LA Yoga March 2011 Issue

YOGA LA

A Y U R V E D A A N D H E A LT H

sweep out space for spring ayurvedic home makeover herbs for cleansing sam slovick is seduced into wellness daryl hannah says speak out beth lapides lady yoga’s marathon i am: the ultimate reality show una práctica para encender la luz en el corazón enter to win a trip to the sun valley wellness festival

MARCH 2011 VOLUME 10 / NO. 2 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S FREE YOGA MAGAZINE LAYOGAMAGAZINE.COM

get more LA YOGA online: layogamagazine.com

march 2011

32 Curestream:

Seduced Into Wellness

By Sam Slovick

54

: contents

18

Art: Meganne Forbes

34 Creating a Healing

Home Environment

By Mary-Alice Quinn, CAS

Community 04 Get Up & Go, News, New Doors

Ayurveda Pages 44 Ayurveda Q&A

By Dr. Jay Apte

17 The Poet's Corner: Infinite

By Dylan Barmmer

46 Ayurveda Practitioners 48 Spring Cleansing Ayurveda Style

By Dr. Singh Khalsa

18 Seva in Action: West Hollywood Considers Fur Ban

Yogi Food 50 Mung Bean Rasam

By Darshana Thacker

20 Finding Health Freedom Through Our Food

By Felicia M. Tomasko, RN

50 The Farmers' Corner

By Red Jen Ford

20 Lights of LA 22 Teacher Profile: Beth Lapides

By Felicia M. Tomasko, RN

52 Kumquat Rosemary Rice Pilaf

By Felicia M. Tomasko, RN Media 54 The Art of Yoga: Mahasivratri

By Nandhi

Practice Pages 24 Honor Your Inner Rebel

By Dr. Lorin Roche, PhD

56 CD Reviews 57 Book Review

26 Life is Messy; Clean It

By Leslie Hendry 28 Kidney Shakti

By Tias Little

LA Astrology Pages 58 LA Heaven to Earth Jyotish Forecast: March 2011

By Tamiko Fischer

Practice Pages: Español 30 Una Práctica para Encender la Luz en el Corazón Escrita por Sussy Castilla

Yantra Series 64 Dhumavati Yantra: Potential

By Sarah Tomlinson and Dr. John Casey

06

31 Kundalini Yoga

By Sussy Castilla Sitting Down With: 38 Tom Shadyac

By Felicia M. Tomasko, RN

Don't miss Lady Yoga's latest adventures on p13!

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On the cover: CLEANING UP FEELS GOOD! Feels like this cleanse Issue comes at the perfect time. Clearing out the old to make space for the new is such a great Life lesson.

A good reminder this month as the seasons change and we welcome in the growth!

This cover Image was captured at sunrise in Santa Monica just up the PCH with the Filmmaker, Dancer, Yogini and occasional muse, Micheline Pierrette Berry. zendancing.com (Congratulations Micheline on your next adventure!)

Cover Photograph by Amir Magal amirmagal.com

March 2011

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AY UR V ED A A N D H EA LT H

souther n califor nia's free yoga magazine EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FELICIA M. TOMASKO, RN edit@layogamagazine.com

NEWS DESK FELICIA M. TOMASKO, RN news@layogamagazine.com STAFF WRITERS Melissa Chua Vanessa Harris Karen Henry Laurie Searle Joni Yung EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE

Michael Blahut Rachael Cleghorn Selah Michelle Tim Shullberg INTERNS Joseph Parra Ashley Wynn CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Jay Apte Dylan Barmmer Mercer Boffey Dr. John Casey Sussy Castilla Lama Surya Das Derek Feniger Tamiko Fischer Meganne Forbes Red Jen Ford Sara Ivanhoe

Leslie Hendry Jasper Johal A Karno Dr. Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa Erin Kirk Tias Little Amir Magal Caroline Myss Nandhi Daniel Overberger

Madhavi Rathod Dr. Lorin Roche Rob Sidon Sam Slovick Robert Sturman Darshana Thacker Sarah Tomlinson Mary-Alice Quinn David Watts Diana Winston Lady Yoga

SPANISH EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE

Jaime Carlos Casessas, Ph.D. Thank you to the entire Yoga community for participating in and supporting this effort to educate, inspire, and share wisdom.

Special Thanks

Micheline Berry Julie Carmen Doug Corbett Cristi Christensen

Frank Fitzpatrick Sara Ivanhoe Kailas Adam Latham

Andrea Meneses Dr. Mark Singleton Helen Tomasko

ART ART DIRECTOR KERRI BLACKSTONE DESIGN / PRODUCTION kerri.blackstone@gmail.com

WEBSITE / HOSTING RAY PROFET banners@layogamagazine.com ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES ASSIA VALOVA assia@layogamagazine.com (310) 435 - 6490

LA YOGA FOUNDER JULIE DEIFE Publisher Emeritus Jason Goodman

LA YOGA Magazine is being published by Chandra Publishing, 1234 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404. (310) 828 - 8218

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A

s we’ve been putting together an issue for the Spring Equinox and exploring topics related to cleansing, in some convoluted manifestation of life imitating art, my own life has been going through some seismic shifts lately, and I don’t think I’m the only one. We moved the magazine’s office, I moved my home, and I succumbed to whatever virus was being passed around LA, ending up bedridden for several days even with the best of integrative medical care. But then as one friend pointed out, sometimes the cocooning is necessarily in order for the butterfly’s wings to unfold. And I have a theory that sometimes when the body becomes ill, we need the sleep more than any other remedy. In the midst of all of this was my latest birthday.

This is only a partial list; it’s a list that has made me feel that an entire lifetime has happened since the turn of the year. And I don’t think I’m the only one who seems to feel an eternity has been squeezed into 2011 thus far: A lifetime that has asked all of us to hold on tight—and remember to breathe.

As we’re springing into Spring, we’re entering the time of year when we are naturally drawn to cleanse, when we take a deep breath, when we sweep away the old and make room for new growth and new beginnings. These are some of the topics we addressed in these pages, whether considering our home, our herbal remedies, our mung bean soup, or even they way we may rebel against the patterns in our meditation practice.

Every page here seemed to speak to my life somehow, as I hope it does for yours.

While reading through Mary-Alice Quinn’s instructions for an Ayurvedic Home Makeover (take your spring cleanse to your living room) with the elements in mind, I was in the midst of putting my unpacking of my new living quarters on hold to work on this issue. Within her words, I found a sense of solace and hope for the arrangement of my new space. The poetic and kind suggestions found within her assessments of space, air, fire, water, and earth gave me important points of reflection as I’m getting ready to make decisions related to how I will arrange the objects in my environment to create a sacred, comfortable, and welcoming home.

We’ve moved the magazine’s offices as well, as many of you may have heard in one way or another. And in the of shifting space and clearing out old dust, it’s a symbolic gesture of not only changing desks, but preparing to launch a series of new initiatives for 2011 to shake up our image and to deepen the practice of building community and sharing inspiring stories. These are the very core values upon which this magazine is based and to which we are committed on every page. You may notice some new opportunities to interact within these pages. And I hope that you all sign up for our email newsletter to stay in touch more often.

Rob Sidon’s interview with Tom Shadyac speaks to these values as well—how we end up literally Spring cleaning our life in one way or another, asking the bigger questions and projecting them onto a screen for all to see.

I was also struck by long-term contributor Sam Slovick’s story of his own recent cleanse and the stripping away of patterns and habits he experienced after giving up cigarettes and then how the cleanse helped him to evaluate—with compassionate honesty—what he was picking up with his hands and putting into his mouth. Often we stuff ourselves for unconscious reasons. When we strip it away, we are able to find a new relationship with ourselves—and come home.

I’m so proud of this community, of all the people who have practiced Yoga, even just for the first time, and all of our attempts to clear up our space, to clean up our body, to renew ourselves and start over when needed. And amidst everything going on in the world today, new Yoga studios are opening, offering people places to engage in a Spring cleanse of their body, minds, hearts, spirits, and breath.

Happy Spring,

Felicia M. Tomasko, RN

Photo: A Karno

LAYOGA

editor's note

letter to the editor Dear LAYoga, I just wanted your readers to know that at the age of 61, I was determined to start a yoga regimen. I had to beat the odds. So, I committed to 30 Bikram Yoga classes within 30 days. The results were beyond my expectations. I experienced a sense of relaxation

from my very fist class. With each class, the pain from the fibromyaligia lessened and I was able to sleep better. Over the next six months, I lost 25 pounds.

All my teachers were well trained and dedicated to my success. Because the Long Beach site offers one week of unlimited classes for

$20, I felt I was given ample time to determine if Bikram would work for me.

Please share this letter with you readers Sincerely, Linda Anna Hobbs

We love to receive letters, feedback and suggestions from our readers. Please write us at: edit@layogamagazine.com or send mail to: 1234 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404. We look forward to hearing from you.

We’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback and affirmative emails praising the email newsletter, Living LA YOGA, and some of the recent notes therein, including exclusive editorial, contests, events and more. Sign up at: layogamagazine.com or write us at: edit@layogmagazine.com, subject line: newsletter.

Support our advertisers!

Tell them you saw their ad in LA YOGA magazine!

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Family Constellations

(Continued from p.4)

community : get up and go Snatam Kaur & GuruGanesha Singh Wednesday, March 2 Snatam Kaur, GuruGanesha Singh and Ramesh Kannan share their crystalline radiant voices that reverberates in all audiences’ hearts. Tickets $35$55. 7:30 P.M. Wilshire Ebell Theater, 4401 W. 8th St., Los Angeles, CA 90010; FMI: snatamkaur.com; showclix.com

Spring Alive Thursday, March 3 Spring Groove is offering an interactive concert and theatrical experience that will transport the audience around the world and

into their hearts. It will incorporate original Kirtan blended with folk music by Spring Groove intended to bring bhakti lovers and mainstream music lovers together to celebrate Love. Tickets $10; Pre-reception 7:00 P.M. Show 8:00 P.M.; Santa Monica Playhouse; 1211 4th St.; Santa Monica, CA 90401; FMI: info@springgroove.com; santamonicaplayhouse.com

A Contemplative Approach to Aromatherapy Friday – Sunday, March 4 – 6 David Crow of Floracopeia bringsa meditation-based approach to understanding how pure essential oils can transform consciousness and benefit your emotional and spiritual well-being. Topics include: how plant essences awaken our awareness of bio-logial unity and sensitivity to all beings, the Yoga of olfaction, Buddhist meditation, and contemplative practices that help us recognize the hidden dimensions and intelligence of bo-

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tanical fragrances. Friday evening free. Registration fee for full weekend. 8 P.M.- 10 P.M. Friday March 4; Yoga Desa; 120 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd, Pine Tree Circle; Sat and Sun. 10 A.M. - 6 P.M.; Ribbit Tree; 301 Old Topanga Canyon Rd.; FMI: (808) 346 - 1838; alohanamaste.com

Ayurvedic Cooking Class Saturday, March 5 Dr. Parla Jayagopal offers a new paradigm for eating through Ayurvedic concepts of diet and nutrition. Our spiritual well- being is invariably influenced by our food habits.

Alongside hands on cooking demonstrations, Dr. Jayagopal will introduce the six tastes, qualities of spices, and seasonal modifications. Proceeds benefit the Sri Karunamayi Sangha in Southern California. $35 including samples of dishes; 10 A.M. - 1 P.M. 3068 San Marino St., Los Angeles, CA 90006. RSVP: ltejasri@gmail.com or (213) 268 – 2260.

MahaKirtan Pre Bakti Fest Party Saturday, March 5 Enjoy an majestic evening fully immersed in the joy of kirtan and sacred mantras led by Donna De Lory, Joey Lugassy, and The Breath of Life Tribe. Before the music begins, mingle with the community and enter drawings for door prizes, sip on chai and enjoy raw food refreshments, free treats, and loving like-minded souls. Doors open at 6 P.M. so everyone can come early. You can purchase your Bhakti-Fest spring OMmersion and Fall Bhakti-Fest tickets. $20-$25; Concert 7:30 P.M. Art of Living Los Angeles Center; 948 W. Adams Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007; FMI: prebhaktifest.com

Saturday March 5 The Family Constellations workshop facilitated by Thomas Irzl from Italy offers effective ways of healing on a deeply felt energetic level with life-changing results. This one-day workshop introduces insights into the laws of success in human relationships and approaching personal conflicts, as well as physical and emotional suffering from the spiritual dimension.. $75; 1 P.M.-6 P.M.; 2538 Westridge Rd, LA, 90049 FMI: (949) 46 6- 5888; wangaria7788999@yahoo.com.

Yoga Gives Back Long Beach Fundraiser Saturday, March 5 Leading the heart toward the seat of the soul: Tag team class with Ramona Tamulinas, Kim Wolf and Michelle Libeu with a $25 donation to support microfinancing projects in India. Asana 1:00 – 2:30 P.M. Lunch (donated by Open Sesame Long Beach) and Raffle 2:30 – 4:30 P.M. Yoga World Studio Downtown, 250 West Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90202 (562) 804 – 5525. Yogaworldstudio.com

DanceWorks Master Class Sunday, March 6 Learn the moves that will make you feel great and have fun on the dance floor as you sample YogaWorks newest future class—DanceWorks.

You don’t need any dance experience, as Karen Russell, professional dancer, Yoga instructor, and founder of Yoga Groove® Entertainment, will show you how to move with the rhythm (Continued on p.8)

with good alignment. $45. 2:30 – 4:30 P.M. YogaWorks Tarzana Studio. To register, call (818) 457 – 6900.

USA Yoga Federation Championship Saturday and Sunday, March 5 and 6 Asana can be inspiring, and when executed beautifully, can allow our hearts, minds, and

spirits to revel in the possibility offered through the practice. Watch participants in the eighth annual United States Yoga Asana Championship as they share the joy of Yoga.

Free for members. $10 one day; $15 both days. 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Westin Hotel LAX, 5400 West Century Blvd, Los Angeles: usayoga.org.

Yoga Inspired Songs Sunday, March 6 Gurani Anjali, founder of Yoga Anand Ashram, will be joined by Karren Doukas, John Matthis, and Don Jeremiah for a free evening of songs like “Yoga Path,” “The Elements,” “MahaDeva,” and “Into a Spin.”

7:00 P.M. The Church in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, CA.

Darshan With Louix Dor Dempriey Monday, March 7 Louix Dor Dempriey is a spiritual Master whose darshan and ageless wisdom have invoked profound transformation in thousands of people worldwide.

Darshan 7:30 P.M. The Hills Hotel, 25205 La Paz Road, Laguna Hills, CA For more information, please contact Samantha at (888) 288-3735; e-mail samantha@Louix. org or please visit: www.Louix.org. Attendance is by donation.

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Yoga Stops Trafick Benefit Saturday, March 12 Yoga stops trafick is a one-day global Yoga event to raise awareness and money to help bring an end to human trafficking.

This class will be led

by Daniel Overberger (pictured) and 100% of the money raised will support Odanadi, a nonprofit organization located in Mysore.

Yoga has become a vital role in the rehabilitation of many of the survivors of slavery, domestic abuse, and forced prostitution.

By donation. 10:30 A.M. Runyon Canyon, Los Angeles, CA: FMI: odanadi-uk.org, daniel@leavingstressbehind.com

Yoga, Kirtan & the Mahabharata Saturday, March 12 Heidi Rayden will teach gentle one hour Chakra Bhakti Flow yoga class accompanied

by The Temple Bhajan Band offering live kirtan music. A satsang follows with Sura Das reading selected prose from the Mahabharata, an ancient text containing compositional layers of philosophical and devotional material. Suggested Donation $20; 1:45 .- 3:45 P.M.; Bhakti Yoga Shala, 207 Arizona Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405; FMI: bhaktiyogashala.com

Yoga Doctors Mandir Grand Opening Saturday, March 12 Celebrate this new wellness center on the Westside spearheaded by Yoga Doctor Eden Goldman, DC, E-RYT with an evening of live music, gourmet vegetarian food, drinks, and community. Free. 7:30 P.M. 2211 Corinth Avenue, Suite 211, West Los Angeles, CA 90064. Call (310) 990 – 9648 or visit: yogadoctors.com. Save 33% off your first visit when you mention LA YOGA.

Environmental Art Show Sunday, March 13 This environmental art show by New Roads Spectrum Program middle schoolers will be held at the Malibu Farmers’ Market from 10:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. organized

by Exhale yoga teacher and psychotherapist, Julie Carmen.

“The kids learned about the anatomy of a cell structure by putting jell-O in a baggie with floating lima beans. They photographed images of plant cells while visiting the Cor-

nucopia Foundation Environmental Learning Center and collected collage samples from the garden.”

Quest for Answers Friday, March 18 Mark Singleton, author of Yoga Body, calls to question many commonly held beliefs about the nature and origins of postural yoga (asanas) and suggests a radically new way of understand the meaning of Yoga as it is practiced by millions of people across the world. Dr. Singleton’s thesis turns all conventional wisdom about Yoga on its head. His discussion will bring an informative depth of insight to the historic and cultural background of modern Hatha Yoga for all sincere students. $20 advance; $30 door; 7:45 10:30 P.M. YogaWorks, 2215 Main St., Santa Monica, CA; FMI: (310) 664-6470 ext. 125, yogaworks.com

The South Bay Rocks!

Operation Shanti Saturday, March 19 Join Angela Kukhahn, Garth Hewitt and other yogis for this all-levels donation class followed by a DJ, food, wine, and a raffle to raise funds to build an orphanage in India. $35 suggested donation. Class: 4:00 – 6:00 P.M. After party: 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. Hermosa Beach Community Center, Clark Building, 861 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Operationshanti.org.

(Continued on p.10)

Photo: Jasper Johal

(Continued from p.6)

Spring Equinox Yoga with the Namaste Women’s Choir Saturday, March 19 The Namaste Women’s Choir will be singing harmony and sharing the vibration of their voices while Mary Donovon leads a Yoga class focused on the renewal of the changing seasons and the invitation of spring. $20. 7:00 P.M. Santa Monica Yoga, 1640 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405 (310) 396 – 4040. Santamonicayoga.com; namastewomenschoir.org.

Dove Dash Sunday, March 20 Spend time with the whole family running or walking Dove Canyon and then enjoy breakfast to support Ryan’s Reach, a local charity devoted to aid brain injured individuals and their families. The Ryan’s Reach foundation helps provide financial, emotional, physical and spiritual support. Registration closes March 17; 8 A.M. Corner of Dove Canyon Dr. and Sycamore Dr.; Dove Canyon, CA; FMI: ryansreach.com

Art Reception: Therapeutic Art Thursday, March 24 Art therapy is a powerful and healing practice that allows for the creative expression of deep emotional states. Premiere Oncology offers ongoing art therapy classes as well as a gorgeous display of art in its facilities. Join the community for the art curated by Corinne Lightweaver and Esther DreifussKattan, PhD, with works by Diane Michelle and artists of the cancer & creativity and healing arts group. Opening reception 4:30 – 7:30 P.M. Premiere Oncology Foundation, 2020 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 600, Santa Monica, CA: premiereoncology.org

Darshan with Louix Dor Dempriey Friday, March 25 Louix Dor Dempriey is a spiritual Master whose darshan and ageless wisdom have in-

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voked profound transformation in thousands of people worldwide. Darshan 7:30 P.M. Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Drive, Encinitas, CA. For more information, please contact Samantha at (888) 288-3735; e-mail samantha@Louix.org or please visit: www.Louix.org. Attendance is by donation.

The Rising Lotus Seva Project Saturday, March 26 Celebrate in this evening to launch the Rising Lotus Seva Project, which will put Yoga teachers directly into communities in need.

This full Saturday evening will include a tagteam Yoga class, silent auction, and kirtan with Daniel Stewart and friends. This event is in partnership with House of Ruth, who assists families victimized by domestic violence. Register online or at the Front desk space is limited. $20 yoga; $20 Kirtan; 5 P.M.-10P.M. Sat. March 26; 13557 Ventura Blvd.; Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 FMI: (818) 990- 0282; risinglotusyoga.com

Workshop to Benefit Abused Women and Children Saturday, March 26 Join The Yoga Collective (formerly YogaCo) teachers Ashley Albrand and Liz Arch for a workshop of inversions and hip open-

Photo: Leelu Morris

(Continued from p.8)

ers to benefit women and children who have been victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and human trafficking. Elevate, celebrate and liberate in this three-hour explora-

tion. Learn to conquer fears, while building tremendous physical and emotional strength in a safe and playful environment.

100% of the proceeds will go directly to A Window Between Worlds (awbw.org) - a nonprofit organization based in Venice, CA, dedicated to using art to help end domestic violence, and GEMS – Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (gems-girls.com) –basedint of NY, dedicated to empowering girls and young women, ages 12-21, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the industry and develop their full potential. All attendees will be entered into a drawing to win prizes donated by lululemon Santa Monica. $35 Pre-registration; $40 at the door. For additional donations, email Liz at liz@ lizarch.com. The Yoga Collective, 1408 3rd St. Promenade, 3rd Floor Santa Monica, CA 90401, 1:00 - 4:00 P.M. theyogacollective.com; For registration: (310) 395-0600

Spring Cleaning Yoga Detox & Donation Drive Sunday, March 27 Stefani Manger, RYT, will be leading a twohour practice featuring fun, sweat, and deep relaxation to release toxins from the body, purify, and then restore with a chakra clearing meditation in this seasonal detox. Bring water, a towel, and goods to donate to the Downtown Women’s Center. Items for donation can include sweaters and other clothing, rolling luggage, and sheets and bedding. For a wish list, visit: dwcweb.org. $25 with RSVP/ $30 at the door. 10:00 A.M. – 12 Noon. Brazilian Yoga & Pilates, 3191 Casitas Ave #112, Los Angeles, CA 90039.

Dansa Vinyasa Saturday, April 2 Join Debbie Steingesser for this blend of flow Yoga, traditional West African dance, kirtan, and live African percussion. $35 advance, $40 day of. 12:30 – 3:30 P.M. Exhale Venice, 245 South Main Street, Venice, CA. (310) 450 – 7676. Exhalespa.com.

LAYOGA

community : news Yoga Alliance Board Appointment Announced Dr. Linda Rowe (pictured), a licensed chiropractic physician and a YogaFit® Senior Master Trainer has been newly appointed to the Yoga Alliance prestigious board of directors. Dr. Linda Rowe, D.C. and YogaFit RYT 500 Senior Master Trainer, has set her primary focus in guiding others to achieve fitness and wellness. A licensed chiropractic physician since 1995, she is the creator of YogaFit’s 300 Hour Therapy Program, Therapy Four-Day Training, the star and author of YogaFit’s YogaBack™ DVD. She has been on staff with YogaFit®, the world’s largest Yoga school since 1998 and she leads educational Yoga trainings around the nation: yogafit.com.

Yoga Alliance® is the national education and support organization for yoga in the United States. They work in the public inter-

est to ensure that there is a thorough understanding of the benefits of yoga and that the public can be confident of the quality and consistency of instruction: yogaalliance.org.

Photo: Craig Heath

Giveaway!

Enter to Win! LA YOGA Magazine and the Sun Valley Wellness Festival are teaming up to offer one lucky LA YOGA reader a trip for two to the Sun Valley Wellness Festival, in Sun Valley, Idaho, on the weekend of May 27 – 30. The winner will receive roundtrip air (there are daily nonstop flights on Horizon Air from LAX to SUN starting May 27), lodging at the festival headquarters at the lovely Sun Valley Resort (sunvalley.com), and VIP admission to all festival events.

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The total value of this package is approximately $2,000.

Write: edit@layogamagazine.com by April 15 and tell us why you want to win and what wellness means to you. The winner will be announced on April 20. We look forward to hearing from you.

For more information on the Sun Valley Wellness Festival, please visit: LAYOGA sunvalleywellness.org.

community : new doors Yoga for Kids and Teens Santa Monica’s newest Yoga studio, KIDSREVOLVING, hosts a unique schedule of classes exclusively for children and teens.

Customized by age level, the classes help strengthen visual, auditory, spatial, and kinesthetic awareness by engaging kids in a way their growing bodies and minds can relate to

Hatha Yoga in Chatsworth In a city that doesn’t get enough Yoga, Chatsworth now welcomes a new Yoga center. Marydale Pecora created PARAM YOGA HEALING ARTS CENTER, hoping to transform her city into a “healthy (and) vibrant Yoga community,” she says.

Marydale has been a Yoga practitioner and teacher as well as an energetic healer for decades. For years, she would teach and offer private sessions in her own home, but as her students multiplied, she decided to expand into a new space. Marydale named the studio in honor of her guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, and the name means “supreme Yoga.”

Once you step into the beautiful studio, you’ll notice five white arches draped over each window. The elegant space is decorated in shades of blue, white and gold.

Param Yoga hosts mostly Hatha-style Yoga classes for all levels. There are also private sessions for Yoga therapy as well as Reiki training for levels 1 and 2 along with master teacher training.

“Our desire is to communicate what our logo says, which is to love, serve, meditate

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receiving and processing information.

Studio director and founder Tiffany Craft says, “kidsrevolving gives me an opportunity to inspire youth to connect with their bodies and create with their minds, so they discover a foundation of empowerment that helps them to live the best lives possible.”

At kidsrevolving, no two classes are the same, but all sessions share a common goal of balancing the body, mind and spirit. While the kids explore a series of asanas based on themes inspired by cultures from around the

world, they gain creativity, self-appreciation and cultivate an awareness of other cultures. “kidsrevolving is a place for kids of all ages to be themselves, learn about themselves and ultimately feel good about themselves,” says Tiffany. kidsrevolving, 1657 12th Street, Suite B Santa Monica, CA 90404. kidsrevolving.com

––Melissa Chua

and realize that we are deeply anchored in the eight limbs of Yoga,” says Marydale.

“We offer Yoga to everybody who is interested giving them a personalized Yoga practice (that is) hands-on and community-ori-

ented,” she says. Param Yoga Healing Arts Center, 21750 Devonshire St. Chatsworth, CA 91311. param-yoga.com ––Melissa Chua Melissa Chua is a Los Angeles-based writer with a journalism degree from Cal-State University Northridge. M.chua13@gmail.com

Montecito Yoga Peaceful and safe, partially below ground, in a cave-like setting ascending into light, is how MONTECITO YOGA owner and Yoga teacher Denise Zaverdes describes the serene yet welcoming Yoga space on Coast Village Road in the seaside enclave town of Montecito. She opened the studio with the intent for a place where, as she says, “People can come to explore what it means to be themselves in this world today.” She’s not the only one who found magic in the space, judging by the vibrant community who showed up at the not one, but two, grand opening events. She feels that the students and visitors bring in the mojo and Zaverdes hopes the space serves the needs of the community.

Zaverdes began her Yoga journey when she was a commercial film editor living in Chicago. “My friend Jackie said for many years that I would love Yoga.” A Pilates instructor at her local health club became a Yoga instructor and Zaverdes feels she got lucky with that experience. A longtime dancer, she says, “Yoga was everything I was looking for, without knowing I was looking for it; Yoga has the spirit of dance, with breath and intention.” Before moving to the Central Coast in 2004, Zaverdes taught in Orange County at YogaWorks and Yoga Place in Costa Mesa and Laguna Beach and practiced and studied with Chuck Miller and Ana Forrest.

Many of the studio’s current students are new to Yoga and they continue to remind her why she loves the practice. In addition to Zaverdes’ flow classes, the full schedule includes Yin, all levels classes (including a lunchtime midday break), core flow, mindful Yoga, gentle, Kundalini, power flow fusion and level 2/3 classes. The first class at the studio is free. Montecito Yoga, 1187 Coast Village Road, Montecito, CA. (805) 845 – 1301. montecitoyoga.com LAYOGA

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Where I pick up LA YOGA

LA Single Yogi Tia Dobi says the couple who Yogas together stays together. Here she is with the Valentine’s issue…all over town. She picks up her monthly copy at the Agape International Spiritual Center.

Jodi Bye (above) picks up my copy of LA Yoga every month at Santa Monica Power Yoga where she also teaches Yoga, takes class, and manages the retail boutique. She says she’s surrounded my life by the Yoga community and it couldn’t be better.

Tell us where you pick up LA YOGA and send us a photo for inclusion in an upcoming issue. Write: edit@layogamagazine.com.

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the poet’s corner by dylan barmmer

Infinite Push down to melt your heart into the earth where all good things flower and grow don't you know you are just waiting to blossom

Reach out to unite your body mind and soul just flow as one like the ocean like a vinyasa like something you only dreamed of being You are Infinite in essence *2007 Word Is Born

Photo: The Liquid Lens

Rise up and reach for the sky lift so high to fly free of your burdens or worries fears they only hold you back if you let them

Dylan Barmmer is a writer, poet, performance artist and yogi living, laughing and playing in the stunning San Diego surf enclave of Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Dylan also serves as Raconteur for creative copywriting consortium Word Is Born (wordisborn.net) and outlaw oratorial outfit Random Acts of Poetry (youtube.com/wordisborntv), and authors the Mad Yogi Poet blog on ElephantJournal. com (elephantjournal.com/author/dylan-barmmer). Motivated by creativity, driven by passion and defined by heart, Dylan has often been called “a real piece of work.”@wordisborn

March 2011

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seva in action

west hollywood considers fur ban

W

est Hollywood city council candidate John D'Amico recently announced his intention to ban the sale of fur within city limits, which would make WeHo the first city in the United States to ban fur. The animal welfare community has come out strong in support of the fur ban and since initial campaign rallies, other candidates have come on board, showing that the issue has much broader political appeal than previously thought.

"West Hollywood has the opportunity to once again be a leader for animal welfare by becoming the first fur-free city in the nation," said D'Amico. "We have pledged to be a place that is free of cruelty to animals and we can no longer support the barbaric fur trade by selling the products of that cruelty in our city." In 1989, West Hollywood passed Res-

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olution Number 558 proclaiming the city a "Cruelty Free Zone for Animals." The city has already passed a historic ban on declawing cats, and banned the sale of dogs and cats within city limits.

"Sometimes we have to get into the politi-

cal arena to make change,� said Ed Buck, a WeHo resident and one of the Fur Free West Hollywood campaign organizers. "If you want humane laws, you have to elect humane lawmakers." Citywide elections will be LAYOGA held March 8. furfreeweho.com

Top Left: PETA volunteer extraordinaire Christina Cho, Bottom Left: Rory Freedman, Lacey Conner and friends, Right: WeHo City Council candidate John D'Amico addresses the crowd

March 2011

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finding health freedom through our food five questions with daryl hannah by felicia marie tomasko, rn

Felicia Marie Tomasko: As we enter Spring, we notice the sprouting of new growth, making this a profound time to start to look at how we can contribute, even within an urban environment, to being more self-sufficient with our own food, herbs and medicines.

Where do you feel is an important place for people to begin?

(http://www.organicconsumers.org/) is doing great work - keeping up the fight for our right to know and keep organics free of genetically engineered crops.

Daryl Hannah: Self-sufficiency in any way is great thing! It helps us feel free and independent and relieves a lot of pressure - both financially and from the fear associated with any dependence. So growing some of your own food, or joining a community CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program), or becoming part of a renewable fuel co-op - these kinds of actions are all liberating gestures and a great way to empower ourselves.

DH: The South Central Farm land which I helped fight for is now back up for sale!

Check out my video blog on its earlier destruction – (Found on week 12 of the archive of shows on Daryl Hannah’s website: dhlovelife) (http://www.dhlovelife.com/v2/show/ archive/?wk=12) There are so many inspiring stories of the emerging urban gardening movement— schools all over the country now have living classrooms and are growing gardens—the city of Detroit has really embraced and is now leading the urban gardening movement, it’s spreading like wildfire.

FMT: As more GMO crops are being inserted into our food supply, can you speak to how can individuals or communities take action to ensure access to organic and safe food?

DH: The best insurance that you’re not being slipped GMOs is to stay away from conventionally grown produce and processed foods.

GMOs don’t need to be labeled, so conventionally grown corn, packaged goods, and other items are a particularly sneaky way to force feed the American populace GMOs. Grow your own or stick with organics. It’s also crucial to let your public representatives know if you want GMOs to be labeled.

The Organic Consumers Association

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FMT: Some of your activism has centered around urban gardens. Can you share a particularly heartwarming success story?

FMT: How can people become activists and become more involved in gardening in the community or supporting others to do so?

DH: Plant! Having a garden, even a small herb garden in window pots is so incredibly tangibly satisfying! It cleans the air in your home and tastes great. There’s just no downside.

Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program). Shop at a farmers market.

Support or start your kids’ school garden.

Study permaculture. Permaculture is a phe-

nomenal way to mimic nature’s genius to harvest and store water, arrange crops and design everything!

FMT: What one action could people take that you feel would make the greatest impact?

DH: Speak out!

LAYOGA

Daryl Hannah will be speaking out at the Health Freedom Expo in Long Beach, California. The three-day expo, March 25- 27, will feature a full slate of enlightening speakers encouraging empowerment of our health care, taking freedom seriously. Join Daryl Hannah, Mariel Hemingway, Mike Adams, John Gray, Jeffrey Smith, Kevin Trudeau, George Noory (and LA YOGA editor Felicia Tomasko—Friday at 4:00 P.M.), among other speakers and educators. For more information, visit: healthfreedomexpo.com.

There’s a new CSA in town! The McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo are partnering with the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles to offer a Spring, 2011 Season CSA from March 1 – May 24. Different options are available and pick up is at the Holmby Drive garage entrance at the temple on Tuesdays from 2:30 – 4:00 P.M. Members are encouraged to help volunteer if possible during the season. For more information, please contact Lisa at lisa@realfooddigest.com.

For more information on other CSA programs, please visit: csacalifornia.org.

lights of LA : teacher profile

beth lapides 100% happy 88% of the time…

Photo: Raquel Krelle

and in the moment

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The first time I encountered Beth Lapides, she was accepting an award for her work as a comedian, teacher, entertainer, speaker, and collaborative force in creating funny, smart, and dare we say uplifting storytelling through the popular and groundbreaking Un-Cabaret series. And in that meeting, I couldn’t help but be struck by her sense of daring, the bold way in which is commanded attention, and her great clothes—a well-put together ensemble that fully expressed that this was a woman with a sense of fun, someone who is comfortable at home in her own self, fully expressive, and imbued with a sense of freedom. I had to speak to her.

From that conversation, a common interest in Yoga was discovered, and not long after, LA YOGA began running Beth’s humorous column, “My Other Car is a Yoga Mat.” (She has produced license plate holders with this phrase emblazoned on them. I’ve seen them adorning cars in L.A. and you, too, can buy one online on Beth’s website to proclaim your love of Yoga.) In her writing in this magazine and other places (including O Magazine and the Huffington Post), her wry and right-on sense of humor, her inquisitive nature, and her views on Yoga and how it

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by felicia m. tomasko, rn relates to life never fail to delight.

As she is on the page, she is also in person: unfailingly funny, never afraid to be vulnerable, compassionate, and caring. She is always ready with a kind word or encouraging thought, always ready to try something new.

And she is always dressed as if she is on stage, even when I visited her and her husband and frequent collaborator Greg Miller, for cocktails and dinner in their home, on the night that her camera revealed its first orb photos.

(For more about these orbs, see some of her previous columns—or check out her current show, 100% Happy 88% of the Time.)

Speaking of the show, She sings in the show and in order to develop this voice, Beth has been taking singing lessons. “It’s my new Yoga,” she says. “You have to be so present, it’s crazy.” And it’s not just about getting out of your head. “I’m learning to feel that notes happen in different places in the body, and I can direct the breath in different places in the body.”

“It’s so much about breath,” she says.

Sounds familiar.

Singing is more than an exploration of breath, according to Beth. She waxes philo-

sophical about the use of singing in her performance. “It feels balanced, combining singing and speaking.” The two complement each other. As she says, “I’ve heard that talking is the yang part of vocal expression, while singing is the in part of vocal expression.”

Exploring both the yin and yang help us to be more fully who we are, a common theme for Beth as she speaks about her aims and goals as a teacher. She wants her students to get comfortable being who they are, with the Yoga of developing that increasing selfknowledge, through performing, even if they never intend to perform professionally. “As a teacher I’m always teaching how to understand yourself better and through that practice, how to live a fuller life and how to shape who you are.” It’s literally through our voice, and as Beth says, “Free your voice and the rest will follow.”

Beth and Mitch Kaplan, who works with her on 100% Happy, have been co-teaching an ongoing series called Singers Anonymous, on Saturdays in LA. She describes her coteacher as a consummate professional, who teaches the musical part of singing, while she teaches the performing. Whether someone is singing their own material, or interpreting

songs written by others, performing songs is a profound exercise in self-knowledge. “It’s a Yoga practice, to get to that place of being comfortable with it.” And she is good at encouraging beginners, “I’m a great cheerleader for those who are learning. I cheerlead, applaud, and give performing notes.”

Giving notes is a frequent part of her method as a teacher when she teaches solo, or with one of her other collaborators or co-teachers, including Miller (with whom she has been teaching The Comedian’s Way: A Creative Path for Writers, at venues including in Los Angeles and as a residential retreat at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts). Part of the teaching method is to let people talk, to perform what they’ve written, and then give them notes. It asks the student, the other people in the room, the teachers, to be vulnerable. It’s transformative. And it helps uncover the story any of us held locked up in our hearts. We find it when we speak it out loud. Performing it is raw, courageous, and helps us figure it out. The courage is a big part of the process. “Living now requires a lot of

courage, and any time we practice courage we build it.”

She’s practicing courage in the creation of her own show, 100% Happy 88% of the Time, and it evolves with each performance, as she develops the material in front of the audience. When I tell her this is daring, she laughs and says she wishes there were another way, but “the hell and beauty of being a performer is that you can’t do it yourself, it has to be in front of an audience.” There’s a connection there. “People don’t realize how much a monologue is a dialogue with the audience.”

For some people, speaking out loud, singing, or being involved in any kind of performance is one of their worst fears, yet building the courage is profound and spills over into many other parts of life. And while some of Beth’s students are professional performers, others are lawyers, teachers, therapists, people who are changing jobs, people who may not initially see themselves as performers, but for whom the ability to tell a story, express an idea, and be real, is vital. Through that

expression, people can work out the material, just like finding a dress that is the right shape, by knowing oneself as a performer, people can see what they can speak, deliver, and express.

She likens the work with people in this way to being analogous to a participating in a beginners’ Yoga class. “I love seeing people at the start of their practice, and I love taking beginning Yoga classes. It’s exciting.”

One of the things that keeps her teaching is her love of laughter, her joy of being in the moment. “I love it when my students make me laugh.”

Fortunately Beth laughs easily.

LAYOGA For more information about upcoming performances of 100% Happy 88% of the Time (to be seen in LA and Palm Springs in March), license plate holders, recordings from UnCabaret, and ongoing classes with Beth Lapides in Southern California, as well as retreats at Kripalu, visit: bethlapides.com.

March 2011

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practice pages: meditation

meditating with the radiance sutras:

honor your inner rebel

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by dr. lorin roche, phd

You never know where your spiritual self is hidden. We’re told to find it through the discipline of practice. Because this is meditation, and not the Army, your impulse to rebel against discipline is as important as your desire to change yourself for the better.

You may have noticed in the past that when you try to get yourself to do a self-help program, you wind up tyrannizing yourself.

Then you rebel against the tyranny. The rebel becomes a saboteur of your program because you left her out. The way through this is to embrace the rebel right from the start.

Welcoming the rebel may mean listening to the feeling, “I don’t want to meditate today,” and finding out what it wants. To honor such a feeling means taking it so seriously that you would be willing not to meditate in your usual way, but rather enter the feeling, explore it, let it teach you. Welcome the rebellion, then listen to it. The rebel is there to make sure you do not become enslaved in an external system that takes away your inner authority, your inner freedom, or oppresses you in any way. If you don't start with freedom, you won't end up there.

Meditating the rebel’s way may seem very strange. Once I was working with a schoolteacher, and she was getting restless just a few minutes into the first session. I asked, “What are your impulses?” She said, “I just want to be outside.” We went outside and since we were on a mountain we could see vast horizons. She breathed a sigh of relief.

It turns out that she prefers to be outside as much as possible, even in winter. She dresses warmly, and sits in the snow, and has a great time meditating. The rebel in her is her spiritual part. For another woman, her rebel insists she stay in bed and be cozy to meditate on certain days.

A man I worked with had an amazing Zen

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practice, he could close his eyes and enter The Stillness and stay there. But his body was through with it. His impulse was to jump up and dance wildly, then sit briefly and savor the combination of free-flowing passion supported by inner peace. That became his practice, and he began to thrive in his life as never before. The rebel can sound like an Ayurvedic doctor, prescribing just the treatment to balance your constitution.

The rebel in you is probably more useful, smarter, and healthier than your “spiritual” impulse to practice meditation. Many people, when they imagine meditating, conceive of it as some sort of confinement, an inner prison.

Your inner rebel will immediately alert you if you start making up Odious Rules, such as, “You can’t think, you can’t feel, don’t wiggle, you can’t scratch if you itch.” The rebel will have none of this.

The way in which you rebel is your individuality. We are in human bodies, so the whole point of meditation is to explore and delight in the intersection of the body with universality. Individuality is heightened and illumined by contact with the vast forces of life.

So honor your inner rebel. As you practice any meditation, be alert for the voice of skepticism in you, the voice that says, “Hey, wait a minute, this is bull!” The rebel looks out for your individuality. Invite it in, no matter how much trouble it seems.

As you read and explore meditation notice anything you hate or don’t want to do. Always take your own side. Be willing to hunt to find your own path.

LAYOGA

Lorin Roche, a meditation teacher for more than forty years, is the author of The Radiance Sutras and Meditation Made Easy: lorinroche.com.

my mind is right here If you ask people on the street where their mind is most of the time, they will probably think you are really odd, but then they will answer, “My mind is right here.” Is it?

Most of us spend a great deal of time lost in thoughts about the past or the future. Many of our thoughts are about things we regret from the past or things we are worried about in the future. We obsess, worry, grieve, imagine the worst happening in the future, and replay situations from the past that caused us pain. Theoretically, it might be wise to replay only pleasant thoughts, but we mostly replay negative thoughts, as if we have broken records in our heads. Most of our thoughts hardly seem to vary. We have been thinking the same (often painful) thoughts day after day! So our minds are often not aware in the present but living in a different time period, either the past or the future.

Mindfulness can take you out of your habitual thinking by bringing you to what is actually happening at the present time. Stop right now, take a breath, and pay close attention to the present. Exactly in this moment, are things, for the most part, okay? The future has not happened, the past is over, and right now, well, it just is. This foundational technique of learning mindfulness—learning to return your mind to the present, no matter what

is happening—is tremendously helpful for working with challenging thoughts, emotions, and experiences.

Emma, a twenty-three-year-old aspiring actress, struggled constantly with negative thoughts about herself. After a few weeks of the Mindful Awareness Practices (MAPs) class at our Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, she came into class elated: “I had an audition today, and for the first time ever I didn’t judge myself. Well, I did notice judgment in my mind, but I just stopped and took a breath and decided to be mindful instead of judgmental. I felt my body, noticed my thoughts, and all the judgment just stopped.”

Coming back into the present moment by letting go of thoughts does not require that you eliminate creative ruminations, reflections on the past, or abstract thinking. Mindfulness is more about giving yourself a choice with your thoughts. You can exert some control over them rather than being at their mercy. As you learn to regulate your attention, you also learn when it is useful to focus on the present moment (particularly when working with difficult or negative thinking) and when it is useful to use creative and other functions of mind.

LAYOGA

by diana winston Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. You can download a number of different free meditations led by Diana at: marc.ucla.edu. She also leads a free weekly mindfulness practice in the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum at 12:30 P.M. on Thursdays.

Diana Winston will be one of the featured speakers on March 2 at Music, Meditation and Mindfulness; An Inquiry…presented by c3: Center for Conscious Creativity, Lotus Post, Omstream Music, the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center and LA YOGA Magazine that will be part of an ongoing series exploring the connections between sound, meditation, and neuroscience.

Music, Meditation, and Mindfulness, Wednesday, March 2, 7:00 P.M. $20. Space is limited. Lotus Post, 1533 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404. (310) 828 – 1001: lotuspost.com; omstream.com.

This practice excerpt is from Fully Present: The Science, Art and Practice of Mindfulness

by Sue Smalley, PhD and Diana Winston.

Da Capo Press, 2010.

March 2011

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life is messy; clean it Photo: Amir Magal, amirimage.com

handling the broom

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Four hours north of Mexico City is a town called San Miguel de Allende. In the mornings, if one stays long enough to numb to the sounds of barking dogs, crowing roosters and the all too occasional cohetes (fireworks), the whisper of a straw broom against aged-old cobblestones can be heard.

For many around the world, sweeping is the morning Joe. It’s the start of the day and a new beginning.

In India, front walkways are swept and washed then adorned with a rangoli, a mandala drawn with powdered colors, created to invite prosperity and bountifulness into the home.

Yet who has the time, or inclination, to

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by leslie hendry

engage with personal space on such a micro level?

Time is precious. Sometimes we can afford the time to do as we please, but mostly we buy and sell it like a commodity. We value jobs that afford us the ability to buy the consumer goods we want. We fuel the economy.

We work and buy, work and buy. Sell our time to buy more things, to wake up again and sell more time.

Hopefully our time is highly valued, and hopefully we have some left over to spend on things we enjoy, things we value. Like time with our kids or with friends who inspire us, or having much needed alone time to recharge, or simply being in our personal space.

Our hearth and home, is where we put our kids to bed and arise in the morning. What we put into it can be qualified as energy. If we put too many things into our home then we become out of balance. According to ancient Indian knowledge, when balanced, the five elements: earth, fire, water, air, and ether allow humans to function at the highest level. If we buy many things, store them in cabinets and closets, and fill our home with unessential items, we risk leaving little room for space. Our homes become cluttered and

harder to manage.

Creating space and time for our family is equally as important as preparing a healthy meal. We spend time being creative in the kitchen, but what about the energy we put into our homes by simply creating a clean, fresh space.

Sweeping may not be viewed as pleasure, but it doesn’t have to be work. Placing significance into any action can have a transformative effect if we simply choose to consider it.

The next time you and your surroundings feel flagged and uninspired, reach for the broom. It’s not simply what has sparked tales of witches flying about. Consider it a staff in your hands used to freshen up the space around you, to sink your feet more firmly into the ground, to be quiet, to rest your mind, to have a moment, as you mundanely move the broom back and forth back and forth.

LAYOGA Leslie Hendry is an attorney, writer and authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher from the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois lineage. She is the founder of Azawhistle.com, a company dedicated to clean living.

Azawhistle: Cleaning from the outside in.

practice pages: therapy

kidney shakti

H by tias little

How can Yoga practitioners build a strong and sustaining life force? Is it simply a matter of gaining strength and flexibility?

One way that we can think of generating vitality in the body is by strengthening the pulse or functioning of the kidneys. All the organs play a critical role in the body’s health, yet the kidneys are unique in their support of our overall life force.

The kidneys are located roughly in the middle of the body, suggesting the central role they play in the regulation of energy. The kidneys, along with the adrenals, communicate with the reproductive organs below them in the pelvis and relate to the lungs, heart and brain function above.

Energetically, they mediate our life force and in Chinese Medicine, they balance rest (yin) with activity (yang). They are the most deeply positioned organs in the body. Comparatively, the lungs, heart, and brain are more superficial. The depth and interiority of the kidneys—protected by the strong musculature of the back, and set deep behind the abdominal viscera in front—suggests the role the kidneys play as a source of our vitality.

We could think of the kidneys as an under-

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ground reservoir of blood in the body. They are the well-spring of our prana in Yoga or qi in Oriental Medicine.

In structure and function, they are like sponges with small air pockets that serve to filter, wash, and cleanse the blood. Along with the liver, lungs and spleen, the kidneys serve to purify the bloodstream. Thus the kidneys are constantly engorged in blood, filtering 1,700 liters of blood per day (of which only 1-2 liters are secreted from the body as urine).

The liver, kidney, and spleen are the yin organs in Chinese Medicine, for they are blood filled (the stomach and intestine by contrast are “hollow”). I like to think of these yin organs as our “blood banks.” Because they are blood-filled, the kidneys contribute to our overall fluidity and energy (shakti) in the body.

The kidneys are not held in place by fixed attachments—they “float” in a sense. However, due to the abundance of muscular tightness in the low back and a lack of support from the abdomen in front, the kidneys may become restricted. They may also prolapse, that is to drop downward. Jean-Pierre Bar-

ral, an osteopath and author of Visceral Manipulation notes, “Our estimate is that 25% of women over 50 years of age have renal ptosis, usually on the right side.” 1 How in Yoga do we prevent the kidneys from dropping or from becoming overly restricted? Twisting poses are invaluable for maintaining the fluidity and stability of the kidneys. Backbends, both done with support (as when the spine is propped by a chair, bolster or a set up of blocks) or practiced safely without support, can help to prevent the kidneys from prolapsing.

The kidney region is prone to compression and stagnation from a variety of factors. The primary factor is excess sitting, which can cause compression and tightness within the lumbar and low back muscles. Given that the kidneys are located directly against the subsurface of the respiratory diaphragm, when the kidneys and the surrounding fascia are restricted, it may affect one’s capacity to breathe in fully on an inhalation. Also, the kidneys are vulnerable to restriction and stagnation due to a poor quality diet, one that includes high levels of sodium. Processed food and “fast food” is often laden with sodium. High levels of sodium can cause the body’s cells to dehydrate and the body tissues to swell (the presence of sodium increases blood volume).

Another contributing factor for kidney imbalance is anxiety and stress. In Chinese Medicine the emotion most often associated with the kidneys is fear. This is related, in part, to the action of the adrenal glands, which are located directly atop the kidneys, and govern the fight or flight response.

We can think of the kidney region (and the third chakra, the Manipura Chakra) as being the source for power and vitality. In righthanded people, the right kidney is a chief source of vitality (it is paired with the liver, the right lung and the right shoulder).

In addition to helping to maintain the position of the kidneys in the body, a Yoga practice can provide nourishment and support for the kidney area. Forward bends lengthen and stretch the low back region,

while twists encourage the circulation of blood into the kidneys and their adjoining musculature. Backbends draw the kidneys and adrenals deep into the body, thereby stimulating the flow of kidney chi.

Meditation practice can replenish the kidney region when focus is on a steady long inhalation. The inhalation helps encourage greater suppleness of the diaphragm and serves to help increase circulation in the bloodstream. In general, mobility of the diaphragm influences the kidneys, making them more responsive. And in pranayama practice, the lungs are directly supported by the kidneys. This is why during seated pranayama (breathing practices), the lumbar and kidney region must be drawn upward and forward into the body. In Chinese medicine it is said that, “The lung is the canopy and the kidneys

are the root,” and the lungs “reach down” to grasp the kidney chi. In yogic breathing, the kidneys support the expansion of the lung and chest cavity. In the circulation of our prana and our qi, the kidneys are strong anchors that interact with the lungs with every breath. When we take care of these internal yin aquifers of the body, we encourage greater vitality of the essential life-force of our shakti.

LAYOGA Tias Little, M.A. is trained in Iyengar and Ashtanga vinyasa Yoga and has been practiced Zen since 1995, is a student of Dzogchen practice of Tibetan Buddhism since studying with Tsoknyi Rinpoche and in the past two years has been studying koan practice with Roshi Joan Sutherland. Tias’ teaching specializes in Yoga and anatomy, blending both Western

and Eastern perspectives. He currently directs Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe New Mexico with his wife Surya: prajnayoga.net.

Tias Little will be teaching a Prajna Yoga Immersion at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas, March 18 - 20. Classes include:Kidney Shakti, Folding Inward, Side Bends, Unwinding the Low Back and The Sacred Skull in Yoga. Call (505) 988- 5248 or visit: prajnayoga.net.

1. Visceral Manipulation II by Jean-Pierre Barral, Eastand Press.

March 2011

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paginas de práctica: español

una práctica para encender la luz en el corazón

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escrito por sussy castilla

Cuando llega el verano y los días se tornan más largos, naturalmente nos volteamos hacia los rayos del Sol para nutrirnos y recobrar la energía. La temporada de hibernación nos ha mantenido cómodos por bastante tiempo y ha llegado la hora de resucitar la luz en nuestro corazón.

La siguiente meditación que enseño el Maestro de Kundalini Yoga, Yogui Bhajan, nos ayudará a encender esa luz interna.

Practícala por 40 días consecutivos y verás como te transformarás. ¡Es práctica que te rejuvenecerá!

El Kundalini Yoga es una ciencia que nos da las fórmulas para elevar la esencia de nuestro ser. Es cómo una receta para hornear un pastel, lo cual requiere ciertos ingredientes y el seguir ciertas instrucciones. Si se nos olvida agregar hasta una pizca de bicarbonato de soda el pastel no saldrá tan gustoso.

Un ingrediente esencial que se usa en el Kundalini Yoga es el acto de resonar con la energía del Universo recitando el Adi Mantra "Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo"; que quiere decir "Doy reverencia al maestro sabio que vive en mí y en todo el Universo".

Para resonar, siéntate en el piso con las piernas cruzadas o si te sientas en una silla, con los pies firmemente plantados en el piso. Tu co-

lumna y el cuello deben estar derechos, como si estuvieras sentado contra una pared.

Presiona las palmas firmemente en postura de rezar y empuja los pulgares contra el esternón. Cierra los ojos y enfócalos en el centro de la frente, es decir, hacia el “Tercer Ojo”.

Respira profundamente unas cuantas veces y luego empieza a cantar el mantra tres veces.

Para oír como suena el mantra, dirígete a la página del Internet: kundaliniresearchinstitute. org/tools4teachers/toolsforteachers_3.htm Después de repetir el mantra, inhala profundamente y mantén la inhalación por algunos segundos. Luego exhala y relaja las manos.

Instrucciones para la meditación: Posición de las Manos/Mudra: Aprieta las manos enlazadas al nivel del corazón con la espalda derecha. Si sientes que tu espalda se arquea hacia adelante es recomendable que te sientes en un cojín para elevar la columna y mantenerla derecha.

Respiración: Con los labios en la forma de “O” inhala por la boca dividiendo la inhalación en tres partes. Luego, exhala completamente por la nariz en una sola exhalación.

Ojos: Los ojos se mantienen cerrados durante la meditación.

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Movimiento: En cada inhalación, aprieta y suelta la presión de las manos rápidamente sin desenlazarlas. Esto se repite tres veces durante la inhalación. Continúa el ritmo de la inhalación y la presión y relajación de las manos por tres minutos. Eventualmente, aumenta el tiempo hasta un máximo de 14 minutos..

Para concluir: Inhala profundamente y mantén la inhalación por 21 segundos, encogiendo el cuerpo forzosamente como si fuera de hierro forjado. Exhala como un cañón por la boca. Vuelve a inhalar y tensar el cuerpo; esta vez sosteniendo la inhalación por 20 segundo antes de exhalar enérgicamente.

Vuelve a inhalar profundamente tensando el cuerpo forzosamente y sosteniendo la inhalación por 17 segundos antes de volver a exhalar enérgicamente por la boca. Relaja la postura y siéntate con los ojos cerrados por un momento, enfocándote y prestando plena atención a tu cuerpo y a tu postura.

Para terminar la “receta” y finalizar tu meditación, pon las manos en postura de rezar y canta un largo “Sat nam”; que quiere decir, “Yo soy la verdad”.

Con la práctica habrás aumentado tu reserva de prana de una manera excepcional para mantenerte energizado. Ahora podrás decir, ¡Adiós a la comodidad de la cobija hibernal para encender la luz en tu corazón! LAYOGA Sussy Castilla ayuda a los adolescentes a riesgo a conectarse con su fuente de luz a través de Yoga for Youth: yogaforyouth.org. Para más información sobre el Kundalini Yoga y para ubicar a un profesor, visita las páginas del Internet: 3ho.org y kundaliniresearchinstitute.org.

La información que se provee en este artículo es solamente con propósitos educativos y no debe de ser un sustituto del cuidado medico.

Antes de empezar esta práctica de yoga consulta con un proveedor calificado de la salud.

practice pages: english

kundalini yoga

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a practice to shine the light from within by sussy castilla

As we emerge from the blankets of hibernation in the turn of the season from Winter to Spring, we naturally seek the rays of the Sun to energize and nourish us while we stimulate the light from within.

This meditation, given by Yogi Bhajan, Master of Kundalini Yoga, will do just that.

It promises to make you radiant, light, bright, and even young! Practice it for forty consecutive days and observe your transformation.

Kundalini Yoga is a science that gives us formulas for achieving higher states of being. This process is akin to baking, where specific ingredients and processes are necessary to create a cake. If you leave out an essential ingredient, such as a pinch of baking soda, you will end up without the delicious cake you envisioned.

One essential ingredient practiced in Kundalini Yoga is the initial act of tuning into the Universal energy with the Adi Mantra. This mantra is: “Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo,” which means, “I bow before the wise teacher that resides in me and resides in all creation.”

To tune in, sit on the floor cross-legged or in a chair with your feet flat on the ground.

Your spine should be straight and the back of your neck long, as if you were going to flatten the back of your neck against a wall. If you feel your spine arching forward, it can be a good idea to place a cushion underneath your buttocks to prop you up and align the spine.

Press your palms firmly together in prayer pose and press the thumbs into your sternum. Close the eyes and focus them at the

Third Eye. Take a few deep breaths and then chant the mantra three times.

(To hear a sample of the mantra visit: kundaliniresearchinstitute.org/tools4teachers/ toolsforteachers_3.htm) After chanting inhale deeply and hold the breath for a few seconds, exhale and then allow your hands to release.

Instructions for meditation Body position: maintain a straight spine as the instructions above.

Hand position/mudra: clasp the palms of the hands together in front of the heart center.

Breath: shape the lips into an “O” shape and inhale in three strokes through the “O” mouth.

Exhale in one stroke through the nose.

Eyes: Keep your eyes closed throughout the meditation.

Movement: On each stroke of the inhalation, squeeze the clasped hands together and release them quickly, still holding the hands in a clasp when you release the squeeze. You will be squeezing the hands and releasing them for a total of three times as you inhale. Continue repeating the cycles of breath and movement for three minutes. You may gradually build up the time to a maximum of 14 minutes.

To conclude: Inhale deeply and hold the breath for 21 seconds, squeezing the body like iron and making a very tight grip. Cannonfire exhale through the mouth. Inhale again and squeeze your body tightly, this time hold

the breath for 20 seconds, then exhale powerfully. One last time, inhale deeply and squeeze the body, hold for 17 seconds, and again exhale with force through the mouth. Relax the posture and sit with eyes closed for a few moments, feeling your body.

To finish the recipe and finalize your practice bring the hands into prayer pose again and chant one long “Sat nam,” to ground yourself, which means, “I am truth” (it rhymes with “but Mom”).

You have now increased your pranic reserve exponentially to sustain you with energy, radiance and brightness. It’s time to kiss winter’s Snuggie goodbye and shine your LAYOGA light from within!

Sussy Castilla helps at-risk teenagers connect with their source of light through Yoga for Youth: yogaforyouth.org. For more information on Kundalini Yoga and to find a teacher near you visit: 3ho.org and kundaliniresearchinstitute.org.

The information provided here is for educational purposes only and should not be a substitute for medical care. Before beginning this yoga practice consult with a qualified healthcare provider.

March 2011

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THE CURE STREAM, an online video series focusing on global healers, is a reoccurring feature on layogamagazine.com.

seduced into wellness

how the desire to lose weight created a desire for wellness

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by sam slovick

Change was needed. I had recently retired a multi-decade tobacco addiction and gained twenty pounds in two months when my metabolism came to a screeching halt without the nicotine. A friend of mine had dropped twenty-five pounds in twenty-six days on the Jennings’ RealMecleanse. Cautiously committed, I met with the naturopath who created the cleanse to get the skinny on how to loose some weight fast.

“Naturopathic medicine is something that some people still don’t know about,” Dr Kelly Jennings tells me during our consultation in an upscale production office in Santa Monica. Miles away from her practice in Portland, Oregon, this naturopathic doctor is calm and disarmingly vibrant with a focused compassion… the poster girl for wellness.

As a naturopathic doctor and licensed acupuncturist (abbreviated ND, MSOM, LAc), Jennings looks at health though a broad lens, assessing and evaluating my health and well-being with a comprehensive intake and review of my past medical history. She does this with practiced precision…and a contagious smile. “Naturopathic medicine? It is four to six years of medical school, with all of the subjects typically taught in a conventional medical school such as anatomy and physiology, neuroscience, immunology, and biochemistry, then add on to that training in homeopathy, botanical medicine, hydrotherapy and, for many students, including me, Chinese medicine,” she says.

Just under the social skin the doctor is all business as she cuts to the chase breaking down the protocol for her RealMEcleanse; a metabolic enhancement and weight loss cleanse that utilizes hCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin). It’s all good fun until she drops the following bomb, “500 calories a day maximum,” she says. Though initially alarming, I found that I was never hungry during the 26 day period on the protocol and dropped 20 pounds with minimal exercise. The hCG acts as an appetite suppressant.

Dr. Jennings has been working with a variety of cleanses with exceptional results over the last decade in her practice at Urban Wellness Group in Portland. This group of holistic physicians focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease with a focus on natural health. She assures me that this particular cleanse was the

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right cleanse for me. It was safe, given my history, and would stimulate my metabolism so I’d lose weight while doing it.

I’d done the research on other hCG diets and thought they seemed a little extreme. The many important distinctions between Jenning’s cleanse and others gave me the confidence that this was responsible and right for me: Others involve injectable hCG which I wasn’t interested in taking. The RealMEcleanse uses homeopathic hCG drops taken orally plus it’s a vegetarian/vegan friendly, medically supervised process that addresses any potential side effects and maximizes weight loss. hCG is human chorionic gonadotrophin, a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnant women by the placenta. It acts on the hypothalamus, signaling the body to release stored fat into the bloodstream where it’s used by the cells for nourishment. Coupled with decreased food intake, taking hCG forces the body to use the mobilized fat that is now circulating in the bloodstream to fuel the daily metabolic rate. The best part is that it preferentially stimulates the release of abnormal fat stores in the body and does not affect structural fat and muscle tissue. All this means that people on this regimen predominantly lose fat in the stomach, hips, thighs, buttocks, and upper arms.

I’d read that hCG was extracted from the urine of pregnant women, which, although a little disturbing, wasn’t an issue for me. I was focused on weight loss and wellness and the magic of hCG. I opted for the homeopathic oral preparation.

During our initial consultation, Dr Jennings completed a full medical intake including a review of my past medical history. Her thorough evaluation made me confident that I wasn’t doing anything reckless.

At the end of the program, her final consultation focuses on helping people develop a sustainable long-term eating program. Mine was individualized for my particular constitution and incorporates foods that I like to eat. She also offers additional detox support to help boost metabolism and support fat cleansing during and after the process. And, though I didn’t require it personally, the availability of 24 hour/7 days a week medical supervision would have been helpful for any questions

or concerns that emerged during the cleanse.

When I was cleared for take-off, I entered the wellness matrix through the RealMEcleanse portal on a Monday morning. I was good to go, although still concerned about the 500 calorie a day restriction, I committed to a twenty-four-day cleanse motivated by the promise of losing weight. Although I entered this plan with the primary motivation to lose weight, the experience led me to consider the broader implication of wellness in general as a lifestyle. I recommitted to my Yoga practice and was now seeing a future with new healthy possibilities.

I had somehow been seduced into wellness. At least the idea of wellness. Wellness as a framework for personal motivation. That and the promise of losing a pound a day, which is exactly what happened over the next month.

The RealMEcleanse protocol is: six small meals at two hour intervals daily combined with hCG drops before all but the last meal of the day.

Two of the daily meals are 100 grams of protein and 40 to 60 calories each of vegetables. Other meals are fruit or bread sticks.

As part of the agreement Dr. Jennings was available for bi-monthly phone consultations. She also made herself fully available by email in the case that anything came up during the course of the cleanse.

The benefits of her expertise and experience were essential for making a dietary lifestyle change as opposed to a crash diet. I already knew from experience that those types of diets would only lead me back to where I began in a month or two.

A few days into my first 500 calorie per day cleanse I began to understand the journey was not just about changing my relationship to body fat. The challenge and the opportunity presented involved a psychoemotional purge as well as an expanded awareness of my emotional eating habits. My hands automatically reached for things I couldn’t eat… so I didn’t. The subsequent emotional upheaval that followed clearly mapped out what I’d been doing with food: Food I didn’t like and wasn’t hungry for but still ingesting. The pattern was glaring. As the fat drained from my cells, the process became more than physical.

I could see the pounds melting away. I felt at home in my body

again. And what had been stored in my tissue was being expressed in another way. It was coming through my senses as emotion. I was now processing what I had inhaled in a cloud of smoke and then stored in my fat cells from the subsequent weight gain when I quit smoking at a rapid pace.

Though it’s usually advised not to exercise during the process, Dr. Jennings encouraged me to continue my burgeoning Yoga practice. I showed up every other day at the new YogaWorks mega-plex in Tarzana. The convenience of the studio right next to Whole Foods was a big help in the first week as I became oriented to the protocol. I shopped for the following day’s food before my Iyengar level 1 & 2 class.

During the RealMEcleanse I lost twenty pounds. There were a few days I didn’t lose any and a couple I gained a pound. I could probably have lost a few more but I repeated some meals, which is not advised.

What happened over the course of the process was something much more valuable and lasting than temporary weight loss. I taught myself how to eat for optimum efficiency in a way that benefits my overall health. My body, now cleansed, has a new understating of high performance digestion.

The things I’m interested in eating now are good for me. The idea of putting sugar, wheat, and dairy into my system is not something I’m compelled to do. It’s not a conscious decision but rather an internalized function that doesn’t require thought. I’m no longer reaching for things that I really don’t want to eat but only served as an emotional suppressant. For me, the RealMEcleanse is a super conscious, lasting systemic LAYOGA dietary education.

For more information about Dr. Kelly Jennings and the RealMe Cleanse, visit: urbanwellnesspdx.com/jennings. She can also be reached at her clinic (503) 445 - 9771 for individualized consultations.

Sam Slovick is a regular contributor to LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health Magazine (among other publications) and the author of the current LA Weekly series, PAVEMENT: found at blogs.laweekly.com/ informer/pavement. His website is: samslovick.com.

March 2011

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creating a healing home environment Photos: Jagatjoti Khalsa

an elemental home makeover and ayurvedic spring clease

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According to Ayurveda, the universe is made up of Five Great Elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Ether is the space that connects life together in all of its manifestations. Air represents everything in a gaseous state, for example oxygen, vapor, and wind.

Fire is the transforming aspect of nature manifested through light, heat, and friction. Water is the liquid form of nature found in everything fluid and flowing. Earth is the solid form of nature found in all substances hard, heavy, and dense.

These five elements in their physical forms surround and interact with us in all aspects of our daily experience: what we smell, taste, see, feel, and hear. How we interact with these elements can have a profound effect on our overall well-being. Too much or too little of any element can create imbalances within our body, mind, and spirit.

To create harmony in our living space we can begin by observing each element in its current state, noting any excesses or deficiencies.

We can then take steps to rebalance our home environment.

The following suggestions will explore some simple and practical ways to maximize the healing potential of any home environment: ETHER (Akasha): How cluttered is your space? Do you need to clear space in your home in order to induce a sensation of freedom and expansion? Or does your space feel too open creating a sense of emptiness and insecurity?

Clutter often stifles creativity. Whenever possible, keep the center of a room empty. A room’s center is considered the place of Divine Consciousness (Bhramasthana). When kept free from material objects, this spiritual power is free to radiate in all directions.

Remove all unused and unwanted objects from your home.

• It’s best to focus on one room at a time.

• Start with clearing out closets to make room for things you decide to store.

• Consider how each item makes you feel. Does it add to the harmony you are creating?

• Keep it, throw it away, give it away, donate it, sell it, recycle it, or store it.

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by mary-alice quinn, cas

AIR (Vayu): What are the sources of air pollution in your environment? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, levels of indoor air pollutants often measure three to seven times higher than levels outdoors. Prana, the life-force energy, is directly absorbed through the air we breathe. Depending on the quality of air in our environment, this vital element may feed our wellbeing or our dis-ease.

Identify sources of air pollution in your home.

• How many different household cleaners do you use?

• Are you exposed to vapors from paints or stains?

• Are you exposed to fumes from bedding? Polyester mattress pads, sheets, and pillows are typically treated with formaldehyde—an extremely potent carcinogen and respiratory irritant.

• Are you exposed to fumes from furniture? Furniture, cushions, and bookcases are also often treated with formaldehyde and may emit fumes for up to five years.

• Are you exposed to fumes from your clothes? Dry cleaned clothes can fill a home with toxic vapors for a week or more.

• Are you exposed to fumes from outside? Living on a busy street or near a freeway can expose you to car exhaust and airborne particles from rubber tires.

Clean your air!

• Switch to eco-friendly, all-purpose cleaners or make your own.

Simple, natural ingredients can be prepared in a variety of ways to clean most everything in your home.

• Move toward eco-friendly paints, furniture, and natural fabrics for your next home upgrades.

• Use eco-friendly dry cleaning services. Hand wash clothing whenever possible.

• Keep a variety of houseplants throughout your home. Many species are known natural air purifiers. They also help offset electromagnetic field radiation from electronics.

• Consider cleaning your home’s vents or having them professionally cleaned annually.

• Invest in a quality air purifier and clean or change its filter regularly.

FIRE (Tapas): How much natural light does your home receive?

Are you chronically living in a dark, dim space or are you exposed to extreme doses of afternoon sun? Either end of the spectrum can create chronic imbalances in energy throughout the day and quality of sleep at night. Modern living removes us from direct sunlight, disconnecting us from the natural circadian rhythms. Artificial indoor lighting during evening hours also contributes to the disruption of our natural sleep cycles. Honoring the Fire element by maintaining a balance of natural light has a harmonizing effect on energy, mood, and immunity.

How does the temperature within your home suit you? Is it comfortable or a source of discomfort? Excessive cold or frequent shifts in temperature aggravates vata, the dynamic force of movement in the body. Vata imbalances can manifest as anxiety or digestive irregularity and are at the root of many chronic diseases. Excessive heat or sunlight exposure aggravates pitta, the metabolic force of heat and transformation in the body. A pitta imbalance may manifest as anger and irritability and is the source of many inflammatory conditions.

To balance excessive darkness: • Remove any obstructions to natural light. Move plants or rearrange furniture in front of and around windows.

• Consider repainting walls with lighter colors to help reflect natural light. Pastel colors are particularly useful as they increase the qualities of lightness, purity and clarity.

• Change window coverings that are too dark, heavy or obstruct-

ing. Replace with sheer, light fabrics.

• Use full spectrum light bulbs throughout your home.

To balance excessive light: • Use indoor or outdoor plants, drapes, shades and room dividers to buffer sharp sun exposure.

• Consider repainting walls with deep, rich colors. Earth tones absorb light and help create a stable, grounding sensation.

Make any necessary adjustment to the temperature of your home.

• Consider using a space heater or portable AC unit in the room where you spend most of your time.

• Utilize nature whenever possible. Often closing up windows and doors during the day and opening them at night can keep a space cool during hot seasons. Close your room off to drafts by installing thresholds below doors and draft guards at the base of windows during cold months.

(Continued on p.36)

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(Continued from p.35) WATER (Jala): Are you able to flow from space to space freely, or are there physical obstacles in the arrangement of your furniture and home accessories? Are there surfaces that perpetually collect excessive items, or are all of your shelves and bookcases completely filled?

Is the balance of moisture in your home right for you? Does it create too much dryness or is it too moist or humid for you?

Moisture and flow provided by water is the basis of life itself. A proper amount of water element within the body (called rasa) is responsible for nourishment of all cells, proper absorption of prana, efficient elimination of waste and emotional contentment. Keeping the optimum quantity of moisture flowing in an environment contributes to a healthy amount of rasa flowing throughout one’s being. Creating fluidity in the structure of a living space allows for ease of mind and inspires the flow of creative juices. Visually representing the water element in a home induces a sense of softness and nourishment.

Incorporate a balance of the physical and energetic representations of water throughout your home.

• Rearrange furniture to create more flow.

• Consider rearranging or removing books and décor on shelves and bookcases to allow for more space and visual fluidity.

• Bring the water element into your home through a simple water feature. Consider using a small fountain, a round vase with floating candles or flowers, or a fish bowl or aquarium.

• Decide if you need to invest in a humidifier or a dehumidifier to balance the moisture levels in your home.

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3742 Tibbetts Street, Suite 202 Riverside CA 92506 www.anahatamovementarts.com anahatayogaiyc@gmail.com 951.276.9642 3 6 L AYO G A

March 2011

EARTH (Prithvi): What thoughts, feelings or emotions do the objects you surround yourself with evoke? Are you keeping anything because you feel like you have to, even if it evokes negative memories? How much nature is represented in your home? Evaluate everything from furniture to décor, photos, and artwork. Earth is the grounding, stabilizing force of our natural world. Honoring this element throughout our home can provide us with a sense of protection, strength, and stability.

Surround yourself with objects that reflect the highest vision of you.

• Remove all things that are not contributing to the balance that you are now creating. Keep in mind the subtle impact that objects hold and mindfully choose what you keep.

• Incorporate aspects of nature that you find harmonious. Plants, clay pots, or décor made from glass, stone or wood can be excellent choices.

• Finish by decorating your home with symbols of Divinity and spirituality that resonate with you.

• Our senses are the gateway to consciousness. Physical well-being and the evolution of consciousness is dependant upon what we absorb and assimilate through each of our five senses. Clearing, cleaning, and arranging our home environment to reflect harmony and balance will enhance and expedite these aspirations. Honoring the five elements through an Ayurvedic home makeover is an inspiring and rewarding way to encourage positive change.

LAYOGA

Mary-Alice Quinn, CAS is a Los Angeles based certified Ayurvedic practitioner and an instructor for the California College of Ayurveda.

She is a Practitioner Member of both NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medical Association) and CAAM (California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine), and conducts public workshops throughout

California. Mary-Alice has an active private practice where she blends Ayurvedic lifestyle and nutritional guidelines, as well as personalized herbal remedies and body therapies, to assist her clients in achieving and maintaining healthy, satisfying, and balanced lives: maryalicequinn.com.

March 2011

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sitting down with:

tom shadyac

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hollywood’s mirth mogul and his i am mission Tom Shadyac is a Hollywood director, writer, and producer best known for working with comedic geniuses such as Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, and Steve Carrell. As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, Tom created the infamous “Are You a Preppie?” poster before migrating to Los Angeles, where he become the youngest joke writer for Bob Hope. Eventually, he would go on to make such hits as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty, and Evan Almighty.

We caught up with Tom in Napa after a screening of his terrific new film, I Am, which he felt compelled to make after a severe bike accident. Fearing his own end, he decided if he could do one last thing, it would be to ex-

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by rob sidon

plore and share the truths he had come to know. The documentary is centered around two fundamental questions: What’s wrong with the world? and What can we do about it? Independently produced and distributed, I Am is a highly principled film that tackles esoteric content in a grounded and (of course) humorous way. We sincerely encourage readers to check out I Am when it opens in the LA in March. And hopefully, the film will go on to generate crossover appeal with mainstream audiences around the world.= Rob Sidon: I’ve especially enjoyed your blockbuster comedies with Jim Carrey. Before discussing your new film, I AM, which is a radical departure from what you’re known for, might we talk a bit about your partnership with Jim? It’s like you’re brothers.

Tom Shadyac: We are brothers. When I first saw Jim perform in comedy clubs in the early ’80s, I was not only taken with his insane talent, I thought he looked like family, like one of my cousins. It was eerie, in a way.

Little did I know that some 10 years later, we’d be working on Ace Ventura and would find a creative kinship, as well. I respect Jim on so many levels. He’s a brilliant artist, a true comedic genius. A genius to me is a person who can tap into the Creative Source, the Big Electron, as George Carlin used to call it.

A genius doesn’t so much think of an idea as ideas simply arrive into his or her consciousness, like little gifts from divinity. That’s Jim. A team of writers could sit around all day and try to think of a topper line for a scene.

Jim walks around the room a couple of

times, opens his antennae, and boom, an idea pops in that’s unmatchable. When you work with creative geniuses like Jim, or Eddie Murphy, or Robin Williams, it can do wonders for your belief in something cosmic, creative, and orderly in the universe.

RS: Success in Hollywood rewards handsomely. In other words, you became filthy rich.

TS: My films did well, so yes, I did well. But it’s funny, even in the question I see the depth of our cultural illness concerning money. The question states that I was rewarded, and the word “handsomely” is used, and then that same reward is called “filthy.” Interesting.

Which is it?

RS: Then something changed. What happened that led you to make I Am? TS: Well, the short answer is, I got into a bike accident which left me struggling with Post Concussion Syndrome, a condition where the symptoms of a concussion don’t go away.

It’s quite torturous really, and after months of isolation and pain, I simply didn’t think I was going to make it. Well, death can be a very powerful motivator, and so I asked myself a serious question: If this was it for me, if I was going to die, what did I want to say before I went? I Am is that expression, a kind of last testament to certain truths that I had woken up to that I did not see our culture talking about, and I simply did not want to die with these ideas buried inside of me.

RS: Had you been a student of metaphysics or spiritual philosophy?

TS: Yes, my whole life. As early as I can remember, I simply wanted to know what was true, and somehow I perceived at a very early age that what I was being taught was not the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

And that intuitive perception led to a lifetime of questioning and searching; of stumbling and fumbling toward the light; of reading the mystics and masters like Rumi, Hafiz, Mary Oliver, Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Merton, and countless others; and of experimentation with various spiritual disciplines such as prayer and contemplation, the monastic traditions of Lectio Divino, and silence and meditation.

RS: You downsized your life to make I Am. TS: No, actually, my life had already been downsized. I was already living in the mobile home park and was living much more simply. I think there’s a common misperception

that my bike accident caused an instantaneous spiritual awakening that had me sell my estate, give all my money away, and move into a trailer. As dramatic and movie worthy as this sounds, I assure you it was not the case. The “awakening,” so to speak, was much more gradual, taking place over a number of years, with much consideration and contemplation.

My film crew for I Am is a different story.

I went from a crew of around 400 on Evan Almighty to four on I Am. Now that’s downsizing!

RS: How would you describe the film?

TS: My hope is that I Am is a window into Truth, a glimpse into the miracle, the mystery and magic of who we really are, and of (Continued on p.40)

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(Continued from p.39)

the basic nature of the connection and unity of all things. In a way, I think of I Am as the ultimate reality show.

RS: You made the film to answer two fundamental questions.

TS: Yes: What’s wrong with the world, and what can we do about it? And when I say what’s wrong with the world, I didn’t want to hear the usual answers, like war, hunger,

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poverty, the environmental crisis, or even greed. These to me are not the problem; they are symptoms of a larger endemic problem.

In I Am, I wanted to talk about the root cause of the ills of the world, attempt to identify it, because if there is a common cause and we can talk about it, air it out in the public forum, then we have a chance to solve it.

Until then, we are like doctors who keep pre-

scribing medication to treat our collective nausea when what we need is the wisdom to ask ourselves what we’re ingesting in the first place that is making us all sick.

RS: One reason I enjoyed the film is that its underlying message is so positive—that human beings are not hardwired as selfish creatures. You turn to scientists to explain.

TS: Well, I was raised Catholic, so this is not exactly the message I was taught growing up.

I was told I was born bad, burdened with something called “original sin,” and that all mankind was similarly infected. It was a revelation to me that for tens of thousands of years, indigenous cultures taught a very different story about our inherent goodness, which is being backed by the sciences now.

We are discovering a plethora of evidence about our hardwiring for connection and compassion, from the vagus nerve, which releases oxytocin at simply witnessing a compassionate act, to the mirror neurons, which causes us to literally feel another person’s pain and thereby empathize. Darwin himself, who has been grossly misunderstood to believe exclusively in our competitiveness (hence the famous saying, “survival of the fittest”), actually observed and noted that humankind’s real power comes in its ability to perform complex tasks together—that is, to sympathize and cooperate.

RS: To exemplify the essence of I Am, you set up an experiment. Can you explain it and say why it’s important?

TS: The experiment in the movie’s just a demonstration and not scientific at all, but it does suggest something that is incredible if it’s true—that our thoughts and emotions affect the living systems around us. It’s called The Yogurt Experiment, and here’s how it works: Yogurt is a living system, and as such, will register a baseline reading when hooked up to a magnetometer. A person is then seated in front of a Petri dish of yogurt and asked to recall various emotional experiences.

When the person’s emotional state changes, those changes are picked up by the yogurt and in turn, register on the magnetometer.

What is crucial to note is that the person is not hooked up to the yogurt at all. He’s simply sitting there. But changes in his emotional state send out an energy signal that affects the yogurt bacteria, which moves the needle on the magnetometer.

These types of experiments are significant

because they demonstrate the power each individual has to affect everything around him or her. We know this intuitively. When we come home in a bad mood, our spouses can feel it and are affected by it. When we enter a room energized and upbeat, that emotion is contagious. Roland McCraty has done lots of these experiments about our effects on plants, animals, and each other. The results are overwhelming and hard to write off as chance, clearly indicating that something, some kind of connectivity is happening.

RS: You also turned to spiritual figures, such as Bishop Desmond Tutu.

TS: I always want to be careful with the word spiritual. It sometimes conjures up images of floating above life in a Zen-like state. I believe spirit took bodily form to engage in the world of sticks and stones, meat and marrow, flesh and blood. We are here, I believe, not to float above life but to engage in it.

There’s a story in the Judaic tradition that says when the Messiah returns, he’s only going to ask one question; he will want to see the soles of your feet. He’s going to want to know if you wore them out trying to make the world a better place. Desmond Tutu is a man who has worn out the soles of his feet; he has not just talked about the power of love and forgiveness, he has walked those principles and demonstrated them to a nation that was under the oppressive weight of racism and prejudice. His walk, his march with his people, in full reconciliation and forgiveness of the oppressor, freed the people of South Africa and those of England, as well.

What a light he is, and what a blessing to have his wisdom in our film.

RS: Yet you can’t deny the shadowy, greedy side of the human experience. As a Hollywood veteran, you know we don’t live in a Pollyanna world. How do you reconcile?

TS: If I say that love is more powerful than hate, I am not stating a platitude or a Pollyanna idea. It just may be that I am describing reality at its most fundamental level. Maya Angelou believes that love may be the actual force that holds the stars in the firmament; love may animate and move the very blood in our veins. Gandhi, too, believed that love is a force, not as a philosophical trope, but as a law that he saw demonstrated over and over in life and the human experience. Hate can rise for a time, he said, but it will always eventually be defeated.

Sure, humans can be greedy, and there is a shadow side to all of us. But if you look at that shadow side and trace the darkness when it manifests, you almost always see someone deprived of that powerful force talked about above—love. Who is it that sexually abuses children? Those who were sexually abused themselves. Who become the most violent murderers and killers in our so-

ciety? Those who grew up witnessing and experiencing murder and killing as a way of life. Who become the most greedy and selfish in our society? Those who were raised in fear-based environments and taught repeatedly to look out for number one. Emerson, St. Augustine, and others believed evil is not even a force unto itself, but rather, it is sim(Continued on p.42)

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(Continued from p.41)

ply the deprivation of good. I don’t believe we’re evil or bad—certainly not the vast majority of people. We’re just asleep.

RS: The late Howard Zinn, a major influence on you, is interviewed in the film. Was he a glass-is-half-full kind of person?

TS: I don’t think Howard even saw the glass.

The glass divides. Howard just saw the water, the solution.

RS: Your late father was interviewed for the film. He tried to temper your optimism.

TS: My father is emblematic of the malaise so prevalent in our culture. Here he was, this incredibly generous man who didn’t believe man was basically generous. He was an incredibly compassionate man who didn’t think man was basically compassionate. He helped build the largest pediatric cancer research institute in America, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where children with cancer are treated every day for free, yet he didn’t think man could build businesses based on values of love and compassion. My father brought to fruition the very things he believed we couldn’t or wouldn’t do because

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of our supposed defective nature, but he just couldn’t see it because the cultural malaise is so insidious and all-pervasive.

RS: But you are bouncing off the walls with positivity. I love it; it’s infectious. How much of it stems from your accident?

TS: If there is any positivity in me, it is thanks to the Creator, the Big Electron, God, Life, Love, whatever you want to call the Divine force, that has somehow seen fit to allow me to participate in the joy of service.

RS: Despite your deep Hollywood connections, you’re distributing this movie in an nontraditional way.

TS: The Hollywood way is to throw tons of money at advertising and distribution, and we simply don’t have that kind of money. So we’re doing it the old-fashioned way, by traveling like a circus troupe and screening it to everyone we can. The idea is to generate lots of word of mouth that hopefully will propel us into a wide, sustained theatrical run.

RS: How did you decide to become a director?

TS: I didn’t really decide. It was decided for

me, as I think is the case with most significant decisions in our lives. I tried on a number of different show business hats, from writing to teaching to acting and stand-up comedy, and I did my best to remain open and to listen.

When I tried directing for the first time, as we rolled on our very first shot, Life shouted a loud, unmistakable, soul-searing, Yes! RS: Will you helm large-budget Hollywood projects again?

TS: Sure, why not? A big budget isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as the money available is spent in an effective, efficient, and conscious manner. I am much more interested in what kind of energy a project puts into the world, what it stands for, and whether it helps or hurts our collective healing and the evolution of consciousness.

RS: Still giving away your proceeds freely?

TS: St. Augustine said, “Determine what God has given you and take from it what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” I say, “Touché, St. Augustine!”

RS: Do you notice Hollywood shifting toward films with spiritual and metaphysical

messages?

TS: Truthfully, I have been so immersed in the making and distribution of I Am, I haven’t seen that many films as of late. But I will say, what we need to concentrate on is not the transformation of media, but the transformation of the people who create media. If we artists wake up and begin to see, think, and walk anew, the art we create will necessarily follow.

RS: What’s next for you?

TS: I’m hanging out with I Am until we see what unfolds here, but I do have two films ready to go: A drama, Planetwalker, which is the true story of John Francis, who saw an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay in 1971 and did a crazy thing—he gave up driving for 22 years and walked in silence for 17 of those years, and a comedy in the vein of Liar Liar called Doctor Sensitive. I also have a deal to host a talk show called Shift Happens, using humor to dialogue with America about how we can birth a better world.

RS: Well, we think I Am has a shot of being a big crossover film that can raise human

awareness. How can our readers see I Am? TS: We hope your readers will go and check us out, and if they are so moved, will share their enthusiasm with everyone they know and even people they don’t know. One of the themes of the movie is the true power of the individual to make a difference. Our release will be a case in point—we need individuals to blog, post, talk, and text about I Am. In the meantime, anyone can stay in touch with us through our website, IAmTheDoc.com.

We have a trailer up now and a place to sign in and register to be a part of our team.

RS: Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

TS: Did I mention I hope they’ll go see I Am? LAYOGA For more information about Los Angeles screenings, visit: IAmTheDoc.com.

Rob Sidon publishes Common Ground Magazine in the San Francisco Bay Area (CommonGroundMag.com). This interview first appeared in Common Ground Magazine and is reprinted with permission.

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ayurveda pages

Q A

by dr. jay apte

Ayurveda has been practiced in the US for only about 30 years, yet it is one of the systems of medicine native to India and is thousands of years old. Readers are invited to submit questions for “Ayurveda Q & A” to ayurveda@layogamagazine.com.

Q: I was on birth control for six years (beginning at age fifteen). When I stopped, I didn’t get a period for the next seven months. I noticed a pain in my right lower abdomen, and my gynecologist discovered I had cysts on my ovaries and through many blood tests, diagnosed polycystic ovaries. I was given hormones to induce a period (which worked) and then went back on birth control pills. I have done some research about holistic ways to heal this, most say to get off the pill, reduce sugar intake, and go through a deep emotional clearing. here are problems with this in that I do not have the time to take a break from life and retreat into my emotional storage house until this is resolved, and I am afraid that if I stop taking the pill again, my cysts may come back and I will need surgery to remove them.

There must be a better way to address this in balance, without depending on birth control hormones or taking hiatus from life. Do you have any recommendations?

A: When you are on birth control pills, this causes cycles without ovulation, bringing up the old adage, “If you don’t use it you lose it.”

Taking birth control pills for six straight years since the age of fifteen has caused some imbalance in ovaries. When taking birth control pills, the monthly period is just a withdrawal bleeding due to the hormone level dropping.

Be a little patient. Around puberty, the body transitions from kapha (earth and water elements) part of the life cycle to the pitta (fire) stage of life. This is the time when hormone levels start increasing. During the pitta years, the hormones are high because it is a childbearing period of life. Hormonal cycles in the body work on negative feedback mechanism.

This means that when there are lower levels of hormones in the blood, the endocrine gland secretes more of the hormones, but when you

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take artificial hormones, there is an adequate level of the hormones in the bloodstream, so the ovaries never get the message to produce more. When they have nothing to do they can become relatively dysfunctional.

So the moment you went off the pills, you didn’t get a period for some time. Ovaries need to revive to secrete hormones. Six years taking birth control pills is a prolonged period of time when your body is exposed to artificial hormones, so you need to give your ovaries more time to come back to normal. In this case, restarting birth control pills is not the solution that will bring you back into balance.

Ayurveda has a different view than conventional medicine. When doshas (elements or energetic forces, such as vata, pitta and kapha) and dhatus (body tissues) go out of balance, they manifest as disease. So the cysts on the ovary may be due to blockage of ovarian function. The solution? Bring back life to ovaries.

Diet, lifestyle practices and herbs will help to restart the function of the ovaries. Along with physical balance, emotional balance is equally or more important. The mind plays an important role in healing as it controls all of the physiological functions in the body.

Following are a few suggestions for the next few months: • Stay away from birth control pills • Have faith and feel calm (believing that you will get normal cycles and will conceive is crucial).

• Eat fresh food, which provides more prana (vital life force) to the body, as well as veggies, fruits (which both contain natural phytochemicals, including vitamins and minerals for normalizing the bodily functions), nuts, eggs (all seeds stimulate seed formation in the body according to the precept “like increases like”), spices (ginger, chili, and many mints) increase heat and

stimulate hormones. Since I do not know your body constitution, I cannot recommend a constitution-specific diet, but these general principles can be helpful.

• Eat three meals and zip your lips in between. This improves metabolism thereby reviving ovarian function.

• Exercise: take a brisk walk for thirty to forty minutes every day. Exercise increases body heat, removes blockages in srotas (channels), and improves normal functioning of the systems.

• Herbs: Shatavari (Asparagus racemosis) and ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) are both excellent herbs to stimulate ovaries. Aloe vera cleanses female reproductive system. Haritaki (Terminalia chebula) is good as a rasayana (rejuvenative) to revive organs and gokshura (Tribulus terrestris) is a wonderful herb to open up channels. Shweta musali, kavachabeeja and chikana are specific herbs to stimulate ovulation. Many of these should be recommended by an Ayurvedic specialist.

The most important thing is to be very calm and happy at this stage because your happy mind is going to direct your ovaries to start functioning again.

Q: I am twenty-seven years old and have been married for one year. I am currently having problems with my sex drive, not feeling in the mood and lack of stamina. Do you have any suggestions?

A: At such a young age, you should be bouncing with energy. In Ayurveda, we ask questions to find out how the body is functioning.

These are only a few of the questions that are part of a full Ayurvedic evaluation.

If your answers are not positive, that means your body is not in balance. There may be blockages (srotorodha) in the body, which can interfere with your ability to get in the mood.

Positive

Negative

Great

Not so good

Do you sleep soundly?

Yes

Interrupted

Do you have regular bowel movements?

Yes

May get constipated

What is your stress level?

Cope well

Stressful

Do you feel happy or very emotionally irregular?

Happy

Anxious, Nervous, Depressed

How is your metabolism?

Ayurvedic panchakarma (detoxifying procedures) is important for rebooting the system and will be a great idea as it detoxifies the entire body, boosts the immune system, improves digestion and promotes sound sleep. With bountiful amounts of energy you will feel like you again.

If panchakarma is not an option at this point, try this minicleanse: • Take up to four tablespoons of castor oil on empty stomach in the morning on a weekend. You will have few lose motions.

• Then for a week following, do a fast with khichadi (soupy mung beans and rice cooked together). Eat khichadi for lunch and dinner and warm mild cooked cereal for breakfast. Avoid eating anything else.

• Each night during the week, take one teaspoon of triphala with a pinch of pippali (Piper longum) at night with water. This will regularize your system. Then at the end of the week, repeat the castor oil one more time.

Herbs such as guduchi (Tribulus terrestris), punarnava (Boerhaavia diffusa), turmeric,

amala (Embilica officinalis) and haritaki (Terminalia chebula) are called rasayana (rejuvenative) herbs. They improve the quality of tissues, thereby feeling revived.

Abhyanga (warm oil massage, with a therapist or via self-massage) and shirodhara (warm oil poured in a continuous stream over the forehead) are wonderful Ayurvedic oil therapies.

Regular exercise, pranayama (breathing practices), meditation and Yoga will definitely help restore your energy and bring you into balance.

I don’t think anything major is wrong. You just need a regular “oil check.”

Please note that these suggestions are dependent on the limited information I received in these questions. It is always important to

have a thorough evaluation with a welltrained healthcare provider or Ayurvedic LAYOGA practitioner.

The information provided here is for educational purposes only. Before using any Ayurvedic sremedies, consult with a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner or healthcare provider.

This article represents the opinion and recommendations of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health magazine.

Dr. Jay Apte, practicing Ayurveda for more than 35 years has opened “Dr. Jay’s Health & Nature Wellness Center” in Mountain View CA offering Ayurveda, Panchakarma, Yoga, and Meditation. (650) 584 -3123, drjay@hnwellness.com; hnwellness.com

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March 2011

L AYO G A 4 5

To Find an Ayurvedic Practitioner visit: California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine: ayurveda-caam.org or National Ayurvedic Medical Association: ayurveda-nama.org.

Ayurvedic Practitioners: James Bailey, LAc, MATCM, MPH and Dipl Ayu. Sevanti Wellness, full service clinic with acupuncture, Oriental medicine and Ayurveda, since 1990. Sevanti Wellness, 1502 Montana Avenue, CA. (310) 393 - 4124, james@sevanti.com.

Pilar Chandler, LMT, Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner. Consultations, nutrition, stress reduction, massage, aromatherapy, classes in cooking and natural remedies at Shri Veda Wellness. 445 E. 17th Street, Suite J. Costa Mesa, CA. (949) 310 - 3226.

The Healing Gardens is a full-service Ayurvedic and Yoga Center in Orange County under an Ayurvedic Physician and Practitioner. Specialize in Panchakarma detoxifications, Ayurvedic Therapies, Oil Massages, Personalized Yoga therapies and Yoga and Ayurveda Retreats. Now offering, Panchakarma Certification course. Call (949) 515 4855 or visit: thehealingardens.com.

Dr. Parla Jayagopal teaches at the American University of Complementary Medicine and practices in Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Upland. For appointments: (310) 550 - 7445.

Vaidya R. K. Mishra practices and teaches at the Prana Center in Chatsworth and across the country. For more information about his schedule and consultations, call (818) 709 1005. Vaidyamishra.com.

Dr. Aditya Sharma, Ayurvedic consultations, detoxification, weight management, nutrition, blood pressure, cholesterol, stomach problems, pms, male/femail problems, eczema, cleansing, thyroid, and more. Geeta Ayurveda Healing Center, INC. Beverly Hills Office: (310) 623 4415. Simi Valley Office: (805) 584 - 9025.

Pancha karma at Blue Sage Sanctuary with Ragaia Belovarac and a team of well-trained compassionate practitioners. Immersion programs, healing retreats, pancha karma and individualized therapies available: bluesage-sanctuary.com.

Dr. Mark Vinick, DC, CAS, chiropractic, Ayurveda, Shakti Energy HealingTM, nutrition, anti-aging, marma therapy, stress reduction techniques and meditation. Board certified in pain management, anti-aging and Ayurvedic medicine. 1860 S. Elena Ave, Suite A, Redondo Beach, CA. (310) 375 - HEAL. Drmarkvinick.com.

Andrea Emmerich, CAS, CYT, LMT, specializes in Ayurvedic treatments, Panchakarma seasonal cleanses and detoxification programs, Thai massage and private Yoga sessions. andreaemmerich.com Arun Deva, DASc, AYT. Practicing Ayurveda, Ayur*yoga Therapy and Vinyasa Krama Yoga, Panchakarma, Ayurvedic Lifestyle & Dietary Guidelines, Yoga Therapy, Yoga Classes. (310) 358 - 9555 yogarasayana@gmail.com, yogarasayana.wordpress.com. .

To advertise in this special advertising section listing Ayurvedic practitioners and practices, contact: ayurveda@layogamagazine.com.

AYURVEDIC SANGHA the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine and LA YOGA Magazine. Open to members, practitioners, Ayurvedic students, Yoga teachers, students and anyone who is interested in meeting in person to learn more about Ayurveda and share food, fellowship, knowledge and more.

Ayurvedic Mondays Monthly Monday Morning Ayurveda Series at the Sivananda Center, 13325 Beach Avenue, Marina del Rey, CA 90292. Sivananda. org/la. 9:30 - 11:30 A.M. Suggested donation of $10 supports the nonprofit California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine (CAAM).

No one will be turned away.

Monday, March 7: Dr. Parla Jayagopal. Prana in the Yogic and Ayurvedic texts and in our daily lives.

Monday, April 4: Arun Deva. Daily and Seasonal Routines of Ayurveda. Nature provides us with seasons to help guide us through our own life journeys. Of these, Ayurveda focuses on four seasons in particular: Those of day and night; the seasons of the year; and of age and of digestion.

Following their rhythms can lead to seamless harmony and a state of well being known as

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svasthavritta. In this workshop we will explore their significances and their interplay with our own biological forces known as doshas. By creating daily and seasonal routines that encourage us to become Nature’s dance partners in life; we too become expressions of our highest potential.

Monday, May 2: Kishan Shah Dinacharya: Daily Routine. The rituals of Dinacharya which are designed to keep the body balanced, nourish the senses, and cleanse on a daily basis. Kishan will also address evening rituals to prepare the body for winding down from our day and get ready for a deep sleep as well as daily Yoga and pranayama techniques for vitality and radiant health.

California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine Members – Participate in Monthly Case Study discussions. Learn more about common conditions or bring one of your cases to discuss in a group mentored by senior practitioners.

Led by Dr. Parla Jayagopal. Next case studydiscussion, Thursday, March 31, 5:00 – 6:00 P.M. Pacific Time by Conference Call. Number: (712) 432 – 1690. Call in code: 604917#.

For more information or to register, write: Ayurveda@layogamagazine.com.

Sunday, March 12: Join the Venice Learning Garden, the Sivananda Center and the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine for a working afternoon sharing your love of the garden and of building community. From 1:00 - 5:00 P.M., we’ll be preparing an Ayurvedic teaching garden within the vibrant space in Venice. Volunteer and participate in service and community. Write: vidyachaitanya@sivananda.org or Ayurveda@ layogamagazine.com for more information.

Ayurvedic Events Ayurvedic Principles for Yoga Teachers, a module in the Santa Barbara Yoga Center teacher training program, March 4 – 6, taught by Felicia Marie Tomasko, RN. For more information, visit: santabarbarayogacenter.com.

All About Fat: Separating Fact from Fiction Intensive taught by Rob Talbert in Laguna Beach on March 19: jivaka.com Free talk at the California College of Ayurveda Cerritos Campus, Aromatherapy: The Sense of Smell Applied to Healing taught by Marisa Laursen on March 17, 7:00 – 8:30 P.M. California College of Ayurveda, 17100 Norwalk Blvd, Cerritos, CA: ayurvedacollege.com.

NATIONAL AYURVEDIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION’S

8TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE April 14-17, 2011

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cherry Hill, NJ

Just minutes from historic downtown Philadelphia.

Register by February 28 for the Advanced Registration Discount:

www.ayurveda-nama.org

HEALTHY BODY, HEALTHY BRAIN, HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH AYURVEDA FEATURED SPEAKERS Mother Maya (Maya Tiwari) Pandit Rajmani Tigunait Dr. Christine Horner

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Dr. Marty Cottler Dr. Nita Desai Bri. Joan Shivarpita Harrigan Dr. Rohini Kanniganti Sascha Kriese Dr. Diana Lurie Michael K. Mastro Dr. Rammohan Rao Dr. Dilip Sarkar Dr. Virender Sodhi AKASHA...

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ayurveda pages

spring cleansing ayurveda style

I

by karta purkh singh khalsa In like a lion, out like a lamb, or so we say. Yes, Spring is a time of changes, and the transition from Winter to Spring is one of the most stressful and challenging shifts we go through all year. In most areas, Winter, with its cold weather, gradually gives way to the increasing warmth of Summer, so we go from a time of excess kapha (water and earth) energy to the increasing heat of the pitta (fire element) season. Just like the plants that start poking through the soil in the transitional springtime, we also gradually start to poke our noses out into the world Sometimes, all this doesn’t happen quite as smoothly as we’d prefer. When the unpredictable beginning of Spring comes around, our bodies don’t quite know who to trust, Old Man Winter or the promise of balmy Spring.

Do our immune systems still have to ward off colds, or do our adrenal glands have to rev up and get us out to play softball?

Your goal in Spring will be to stabilize your metabolism after being sedentary during the cold season and to get going on your annual Spring cleansing program. Your Ayurvedic health strategy will be to stay warm, get moving, dry out, and lighten up your life- in other words, to reduce accumulated kapha and detoxify any stuck ama (toxins or undigested material) that is still in your tissues from the Winter.

Spring is a time for invigorating exercise, gradually getting back into shape. Add to that some invigorating massage to get the blood circulating, and nice warm baths, saunas and warm herb rubs to revitalize and stimulate the tissues.

Spring Cleaning with an Ayurvedic Twist During spring, concentrate on cleansing foods and teas. After all, you’ve been hibernating all winter, you old bear. Now, like it or not, it’s time to get up, get cleaned out and get active. Mucus, which also answers to the name kapha dosha, tends to accumulate in the winter (remember all those miserable days at home with a cold?) and that same mucus likes to flow in the spring, like the sap rising in the trees.

Milk tends to increase mucus, so during the

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Spring season, limit milk products, especially in the kapha morning time. (The kapha morning is approximately sunrise until 10:00 A.M.) Instead, reach for a cup of warm water with a teaspoon of honey.

Pungent, bitter and astringent tastes reduce kapha and assist in cleaning out the tissues.

Leafy green vegetables, including lettuce, parsley, and spinach, plus leeks and okra, are bitter cleansing foods. Consider root vegetables, such as beets, carrots and turnips – raw, cooked or juiced – to help keep the liver clean.

Enjoy split peas and navy beans for protein in this season, because they stick to the ribs but are easy enough to digest that the body continues its detoxification cycle. Mung beans and rice soup, with ghee, cilantro, and grated coconut could be a good lunch for a warm spring day. Follow that with detoxifying astringent foods, including berries and grapes, especially green ones. For a punchier detoxifying action, add turmeric, which also reduces inflammation.

When it comes to kitchen herbs, green tea, basil, ginger, cloves and coriander keep the chill away. Pungent onions, garlic, ginger and chilies help speed up circulation and bring cleansing blood to all the organs.

People often develop joint and muscle pain over the long winter. Detoxifying vegetarian diets have been studied in chronic muscle pain, and have shown nice results in the research. A Norwegian study tested the effects of a three week vegetarian diet for people with chronic muscle pain. Serum peroxide, plasma fibrinogen, total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol all reduced.

Clean Out all the Pipes Unfortunately, Spring is allergy season, and it can bring some serious misery! Wet and heavy kapha contributes to this of springtime bane for susceptible folks.

Bring out the daily neti pot, and make it a routine. The warm saltwater and herbal nasal rinse takes just a few seconds, but it can save days of misery from sick sinuses. Think herbal decoctions for use in the neti. Triphala will shrink swollen membranes, eucalyptus will thin mucus, and goldenseal will kill bac-

teria. Gotu kola, skullcap and calamus are traditional nasal application herbs for sinus conditions. For inflamed sinuses, add a teaspoon of ghee to the neti.

Detoxify the Shrotas (the body’s channels) To treat the symptoms of excess ama, herbalists use a broad selection of foods to assist the body in removing the waste products from the tissues. When it comes to detoxifying the liver, few foods are more effective than burdock root, which is specific for eruptions of the head, face and neck, and artichoke, a thistle plant in the daisy family.

Used mainly as an exotic vegetable, green globe is an excellent detoxifier of the liver and gallbladder that also reduces blood fats, including cholesterol, and effectively treats gallstones and obesity. One study showed a significant lowering of elevated cholesterol (12.2%), triglyceride (5.7%) levels and body weight with artichoke extract.1 The raw globe can also be juiced.

Radish, a member of the cabbage family, is known the world over for liver and gallbladder detoxification. The black radish is regarded as a stronger remedy, but the common red radish also brings results. Other radishes, including daikon (called “mooli” in India), are used in their respective cultures.

Radish is a choleretic that relaxes the smooth musculature of the bile ducts, improving bile flow. Radish is also a good vegetable to include in cases of chronic constipation. Use as a food, raw or cooked, or as juice, depending on your preference. Mooli pranthas are popular in Ayurvedic cuisine.

In the herbal arena, dandelion root also acts to increase bile flow. Take dandelion root as tea, tincture, or capsules. Three thousand milligrams per day is a good dose. You might enjoy roasted dandelion root, brewed as a delicious coffee substitute.

Besides being a general balancer, the famous triphala herbal formula is a light laxative, skin, eye, and liver remedy, and an overall detoxifier. Besides taking it as powder, use triphala as a cleansing throat gargle.

Bhumyamalaki is a standby for liver detoxification. It increases bile flow in a very mild

way, so is well tolerated by people for whom a stronger liver detoxifier is contraindicated.

Use up to 10 grams per day in capsules.

The spring season is Nature’s time to turn over a new leaf, and just maybe we can take her advice. Just like you clean your house, make a commitment to some serious Spring cleaning for your body, and set the tone for all the action you’ll be enjoying long into the Summer.

LAYOGA Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, DN-C, Yogaraj, was Yogi Bhajan’s herbal apprentice for 32 years. He is the course director of the Professional Herbalists Course in Newport Beach, California (jivaka.com). Contact him at integrative_education@msn.com Endnotes: 1. Wiener Medizinische Wocheschrift, 1975; 1223:705-9

Ayurveda Resources

Nourishing Oils

Nutrition

Golden Earth Oils: goldenearth.net

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Formulas for pets, people, plants and soil: ambayagold.com Detoxification supplements, superfoods and Klamath algae by HealthForce Nutritionals: healthforce.com

Medicated Ghees Herbs of Ayurveda: herbsofayurveda@yahoo.com, (530) 273 -1103

Banyan Botanicals: banyanbotanicals.com TriHealth: trihealthayurveda.com Sarada Ayurvedic Remedies: saradausa.com Floracopeia: floracopeia.com Chandika Products for healthy skin – real rose, brahmi and sandalwood soaps: chandika.com

March 2011

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yogi food

W

When we feel tuned in with our body, we pay attention to what it needs to be healthy, and what is needed to heal when sick. When I am not feeling well, one of the first things that my body asks for is something nurturing and grounding—such as mung beans in any form. And when I have a cold, cough or am experiencing congestion, my body asks for something hot and soothingly spicy like turmeric tea or rasam soup.

When sick, we may not want to spend much time cooking, so I like to make a large pot of mung bean rasam and drink it like tea or soup as often as I like throughout the day. The

mung bean rasam by darshana thacker warming spices in the soup aid in opening up the sinuses and melt away the soreness in the throat and the congestion in the chest. The mung beans provide soothing nourishment.

Rasam is a traditional South Indian lentil soup with a rich blend of spices. Its pungency and sour taste stimulate the senses and open the sinuses. Since it is liquidy, it is light on the digestion, which is especially beneficial when convalescing or even cleansing. In some parts of South India, it is served as appetizer and in others its served as an after-dinner drink, in either case it is a digestive tonic.

The base ingredient is the liquid from

the farmers’ corner:

seasonal citrus in surprising colors with spring-cleansing benefits by red jen ford

O

f course we know that citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines and lemons are high in Vitamin C, and that accordingly they help strengthen our immune system. But did you know they also help to detoxify the blood? Surprisingly colorful varieties of citrus provide additional health benefits and tremendous bang for your bite! Please your eyes and scintillate your taste buds with these vibrant fruits whose ripeness is currently peaking in California: Blood oranges are tarter than the traditional oranges and their gorgeous deep red hue says something about their tangy taste. High in fiber, potassium, and age- and diseasefighting antioxidants, the bloods provide rich levels of the super anti-inflammatory anthocyanins. Their juice works great as a salad dressing in place of lemon juice when paired with olive or flaxseed oil and is lovely splashed into sparkling water or champagne to make a fizzy RosaMosa.

Cara Caras, or pink navel oranges, have an intense orange flavor with underlying cherry undertones and very few seeds. They are lower in acid content than regular oranges, so folks with Blood Type A may find these more digestible. Cara Caras also provide the

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super cancer-fighting carotenoid, lycopene, which is purportedly great for eye and heart health and shown to fight all types of cancer, especially prostate cancer.

Ruby red grapefruits are high in vitamins B1 and B2, as well as potassium and even calcium, and like the cara caras, are also high in lycopene. Eating grapefruits can increase the secretion of digestive enzymes and, thus, ease irritation in the stomach and intestines.

I definitely reach for these when my digestion feels sluggish and irritated.

Kumquats are bite-sized orange sweet and sour fruits with the surprise that the skin is actually sweeter than the flesh. Since the rind tastes sweet, you can easily eat the whole fruit to benefit from the super cancer-fighting liminoids in their rinds. Liminoids have been shown to prevent and halt the spread of cancer in lab conditions. So eat your kumquats rind and all: slice and use them in salads, in oatmeal, or over yogurt to add a zippy tang.

Pummelos (or pomelos or pommelos), the largest citrus fruit, closely resemble grapefruit but typically have green skin and deep pink flesh. Less acidic than grapefruit, they taste sweeter and more aromatic, and have similar benefits to the ruby reds.

boiled mung with variations that include tomatoes and tamarind which add the sour taste and garlic, ginger and rasam powder for the pungent spiciness.

Rasam powder is a special combination of spices used in South India to give a distinct flavor; this often includes coriander, cumin, mustard, turmeric, curry leaves, fenugreek, asafetida, black pepper and other spices. I have created my own blend that uses more black pepper rather than red chili pepper to create the spicy flavor which is less aggravating to pitta (the fire element) even when used frequently.

Oro bancos, a hybrid between white grapefruit and the pommelo, are sweeter and less bitter than grapefruit. Their yellow rind is a bit thicker than typical grapefruit and hides golden flesh inside, which tastes like grapefruit but sweeter.

When choosing citrus, opt for fruit that weigh heavy in your hand to ensure ideal ripeness and optimal juiciness. Do your best to eat the whole fruit (instead of simply drinking the juice) in order to reap the coloncleansing benefits of their high fiber content.

To enjoy, just peel and eat them right out of your hand, or slice them into half-moons and toss them into a salad with fennel and walnuts or with avocado and arugula.

One of my signature dishes features the zest and juice of blood oranges mixed with sundried tomatoes and chili sauce as a simple and delicious marinade. Whichever citrus fruit you choose, enjoy a variety of colors to rev up your immune system, clean your digestive tract, and keep cancer and other inflammation-related diseases at bay. LAYOGA Red Jen Ford is a certified holistic health coach, Yoga instructor and manager of the Westwood Farmers’ Market, located in the Vets’ Garden Thursdays from Noon to 5:00 P.M. Jen teaches her customers and busy clients the simplicity of eating local, sustainably grown food. Contact her at (917) 971 – 1941 or at: redjenford. The Westwood Farmers Market: westwoodfarmersmarket.com .

Ingredients 1/4 cup

green mung beans

1 tsp

Oil (sesame)

1/4 tsp

mustard seeds

1/4 tsp

cumin seeds

1 pinch

asafetida

1/4 tsp

turmeric powder

5-6 leaves curry leaves 1 tsp

ginger, grated

1/4 tsp

garlic, grated

1/2 cup

tomatoes, diced

1 tbsp

tamarind, dried

6 tsp

Darshana’s Special Blend of rasam masala powder or 2 tsp store-bought rasam masala powder

Directions • Soak the mung beans for about two to four hours.

• In a bowl, mix the tamarind with warm water and set it aside.

• In a pot, boil the mung beans in three cups of water for 30-40 minutes until they are fully cooked (add more water if necessary).

• As the mung beans begin to soften, add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, turmeric and curry leaves and cook for another five to ten minutes.

• In a small skillet, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, once they start to pop, add the cumin seeds and asafetida.Add the spice mixture to the mung dal on the stove.

• Mix the tamarind with the water it has been soaking in, then strain it through a sieve and add the tamarind to the mung.

• Add the rasam masala powder and cook for another four to five minutes.

Rasam can be made as spicy or as mild as you desire based on the quantity of rasam masala powder added.

Serve this hot with rice or as a brew in a cup for relief from colds, coughs or blocked sinuses.

For people with a vata constitution (air and ether elements) or vata out of balance, this gives warmth and adds fire to the body. The mung beans are grounding.

For people with a pitta constitution (fire element) or pitta out of balance, a version that is a little diluted would be recommended.

For Kapha, a little rasam would be beneficial even in regular diet, as a digestive drink postdinner to increase their digestive fire. LAYOGA Darshana Thacker Darshana teaches the traditional Ayurvedic technique of simple spice combining and food preparation. Her intimate, kitchen-based classes illustrate the simple preparation of well-balanced meals planned according to season. Most often the dishes are vegan variations of traditional recipes from all parts of India. New students receive a sample kit of organic spices.

View the 2011 schedule at: vapikaspirit.com.

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yogi food

kumquat rosemary rice pilaf

A

by felicia m. tomasko, rn

A friend of mine who lives in a canyon has a kumquat tree in his yard. I was staying there when I received a last-minute invitation to a potluck dinner and looked around to see what would be easily available without a trip to the store. The decision: kumquat rosemary rice.

Since the rind of kumquats is both sweet and full of health benefits (see the Farmer’s Corner), it makes a deliciously fragrant and subtle addition to recipes. The sweet-sour taste of kumquats combines well with the aromatic and sweet pungency of rosemary; the two together pack an anti-oxidant punch. Clip a few springs of rosemary and chop finely with a sharp knife or a pair of scissors.

Ingredients

• 2 cups brown rice

• 3-6 kumquats for garnish

• 5 cups pure water

• 5 stalks of lavender leaves and flowers

• 1/4 cup sesame seeds

• Pinch of Himalayan salt to taste (added at the end)

• 3 tablespoons chopped rosemary • 2 twigs of rosemary for garnish

• Freshly ground black pepper or crushed peppercorns

• 20 kumquats, sliced into rounds

• Olive oil

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Directions • Bring water to a boil and then add brown rice and sesame seeds together. Simmer until rice is fully cooked (or prepare in a rice cooker until fully done).

• While the rice is cooking, slice the kumquats into thin rounds and chop the rosemary.

• Toss the rice (cooked with sesame seeds), kumquats and rosemary together until completely mixed.

• Coat a casserole dish with a thin coat of olive oil and then place the well-combined rice and sesame seeds, kumquats and rosemary in the dish. Drizzle some olive oil on top of the rice. On the top, arrange the five stalks of lavender in a star-shaped pattern. Bake at 350 degrees until the rice is warm all the way through and the flavors are sufficiently marinated, about 30 minutes. Serve warm LAYOGA as a side dish.

March 2011

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the art of yoga:

mahasivratri Art: Meganne Forbes, meganneforbes.com

the night of the yogi/yogini

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One day of each year, millions observe what is considered the most sacred vortex of time to be blessed in transformation and grace. For thousands of years, yogis, saints, sadhus, and householders in India have observed this moment, the MahaSivratri by staying up all night celebrating Lord Siva.

MahaSivratri is the night of the Eternal Yogi, Lord Siva. This year, MahaSivratri falls on March 2 – 3.

“Si” is the Spirit that we are. “Va” is the Goddess, that of experience. “SiV”a is the awake experience. This is the root understanding to Lord Siva, the male and female within each of us. Likewise, the word “yogi” also refers to the feminine counterpart yogini.

In the spiritual India, most yogis who undergo deep tapas (meditative penance), seldom coming out for months, take a break from their meditative state and come out to bless humanity during this period of MahaSivratri. For one on the path of Yoga, this is the night to experience and actually become the Eternal Yogi.

This day of Mahasivratri is calculated based on the lunar calendar when our consciousness easily condenses into divine awareness during this period. Every month, there is one Sivratri and once a year, the grand Ma-

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by nandhi

haSivratri (maha means great) near the new moon period. From the yogic perspective, the moon directly influences the mind and our consciousness. It is during MahaSivratri period when we can easily dissolve our thoughts to surrender our past, especially karmic patterns to the Magic of the Now and rise above in consciousness.

Each month, the new and full Moon energies uniquely shift as the Earth rotates around the Sun. Each day of the orbit of the Moon around Earth holds a specific energy and a wave of consciousness. Each full Moon and new Moon period holds a specific vortex of energy. New moons hold the consciousness of Lord Siva, the Spirit experience and full moons hold the awareness and the mind, the energies of Lord Vishnu.

Mahasivratri also holds the objective of our Yoga practice, to attain the “I Am” experience and to lead a life as a Spirit having a human experience. The objective of Yoga and its meaning has been described as the union of divinity with the human.

In the meditative process, as the mind of thoughts give way to the mindless mind of a single thought that holds the thoughtlessness, we experience bliss. This is the supreme bliss that yogis term as ananda, happiness for no

reason and all the reasons. Lord Siva is called “Satchidananda” which mean the experience of being bliss.

Any saint or holy man and woman in any religion or culture have the ability to bless reality through words. They may say, “Go home and you will soon have a baby” and remarkably, these words come true. This is because they are in touch with the higher conscious mind that is in union with Source, the mind state of Turiya. In deeper meditation, as we journey through the states of being awake, dreaming and sleeping, we realize each of this a facet of the mind in levels of consciousness.

The yogis dive beneath these layers within to go beyond the mind, the thought patterns and karmic imprints to the state of Turiya, the state of sleepless sleep. In the state of Turiya, the yogis climb into timelessness to intensify the “I Am” experience. In MahaSivratri, the key to celebrating Lord Siva is by staying awake all night long to experience the yogic state of the mind, the Turiya. This higher conscious state of Turiya is the hidden experience that we are to be blessed with during MahaSivratri when staying awake through the night singing, meditating or chanting.

MahaSivratri sets our inner clock to being the timeless awareness. It is the peak of inner

realization and grace in the annual journey as our planet travels around the Sun. To celebrate MahaSivratri observing a few yogic insights uplifts us to be unbound by time, karmic patterns and a limited mind. We become the joyful instrument of Source blessed in our daily inner journey to light, to be light.

Preparing for MahaSivratri in a Yogic Manner: • When approaching MahaSivratri (March 2 – 3), we turn our mind inward and gradually shift our consciousness from the body into the soul. As the moon wanes and dissolves, we dissolve our ego states of ‘me’, ‘mine’ and ‘I’ into the higher consciousness of oneness of that of Lord Siva.

• MahaSivratri is the celebration of the Spirit by the Spirit. Empowered worship of Source is from the intent of wanting to be Source.

• In our inner journey of meditation, these are moments for detox and cleansing of mind and body through a light diet of fruits, nuts, and juice. With puja (prayer and worship) we transform to be Lord Siva.

• Jump into your personal Mother Ganga each morning! By slipping into a cold water bath or shower each morning (even for just a moment), we are dissolving our primal bond to the body and thus are born again. If getting into the cold water shower in the morning is difficult, practice Yoga and through Yoga dissolve into Lord Siva of the five elements and the body becomes easier to surrender into the cold water.

• It is normal for humanity to experience turbulence and upheavals just before MahaSivratri and then after MahaSivratri, the calm and inspired realities that unfold. The mind readily plunges within whenever there is hardship in our external realities.

After MahaSivratri is observed and complete, it is normal to witness a huge blessing or blessings in our external reality.

• Light a lamp at least once a day and meditate, chant and pray. If this is not possible, still the mind and visualize the lamp within and experience Source as the joys within the stillness of a mind without thoughts.

The stillness of mind is Lord Siva, the experience of being the Self, the soul.

• Pilgrimages to sacred places during this period supports the inner journey. Being aware of each thought and setting the mind alight through mantra chanting creates the inner lamp of awareness that gradually shines 24/7.

• Practice dharma (right action). An effective form of dharma is to feed the hungry while we are fasting. In satisfying another’s hunger, we are divinely fed with the subtle energy of Source. Dharma done during this sacred period magnifies. Dharma done by practicing random acts of kindness take us beyond our own suffering and discomfort in order to enable the realization of Oneness and the essence of Source.

• Climb within each day and go further beyond the mind into the internal vibrant light. Lift your consciousness from the muladhara chakra (root chakra) above to the Guru chakra (above the navel).

• Shift your awareness to the space above to the third eye and watch the vibrant light of the mantra dance. In bringing this light in the third eye to stillness, the mind transcends to the mindless realm of joy that Sages call the sleepless sleep, Turiya.

• On the day/night of MahaSivratri, (March

2 – 3, celebrated in different areas on different days), be the pillar of light, Lord Siva, the Eternal Yogi.

May humanity arise in the awake consciousness of wisdom that enables each of us to be the prophets and masters of higher consciousness. May each of us be instruments of Source and in our breath, the ascendance of collective consciousness.

We are the messengers of peace, love and Oneness of Source!

LAYOGA Nandhi was initiated into a karmic death journey through the direct teachings of his enlightened Siddhar Gurus and Masters in India, traveling in the wilderness and meditating in caves in South India as a sadhu for over two decades. Tapasyogi Kalathi Adiyen Aadi Nandhi represents the wisdom of the liberated. He is a visionary, yogi and a transformational guide who is from the mystical path of the Siddhars of South India. The Siddhar teachings, Tantiram, represent the roots of Yoga, Tantra and Mantra. His core teachings Kalangi Yoga is based on imparting the experience and guidance to attain a life of freedom, purpose, health and inner wisdom through tools of enlightenment: nandhi.com

March 2011

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media reviews : cds

The Yoga Sessions Go-Ray & Duke

Joyride Dave Stringer

Yoga Organix/ Black Swan Records

T

he Yoga Sessions is a labor of love and devotion, full of great players: Rachel “Go-Ray” Golub (vocals, violins, tampra, sitar), David “Duke Mushroom” Schommer (drums, beats, percussion, bass, vocals) and a cast of other serious players, including Steve Gorn, MC Yogi and Idan Raichel. It is refreshing to hear musicians who have developed their craft coming together to create and facilitate a vision. I’m a long-time fan of world music and I hear credibility and honesty on this album. This collective has done their homework and manages to fuse traditional sounds with a modern touch.

Track three is a cover of “Spirits in the Material World” by the Police, which surprised me because the track starts with a bass line that sounds just like “Bed’s Too Big Without You,” also a Police song that gave Sheila Hylton a UK hit in 1981. It’s as if Go-Ray & Duke are sending out musical messages, like tipping their hat to both songs at once or to the archetypal quality of Sting’s bass playing.

This entire album is laced with messages, musically and lyrically, and the liner notes explain the impetus behind every song. If you buy this album as a download, make a point to download the liner notes and artwork.

The back cover features a photo of Go-Ray and Duke next to a tree; Go-Ray looks like she jumped straight off the pages of Glamour circa 1973 and Duke looks like he could be playing in Queens of the Stone Age. Nice. All the elements in this project make it a complete package, the way albums used to be in the days when giants like Keith Richards and Jimmy Page roamed the Earth.

If like me, you miss the sound of musicians playing music and the lost art of album liner notes and cover design, Go-Ray & Duke are keeping the fires burning.

––Reviewed by Daniel Overberger, an LAbased Yoga teacher, the author of Leaving Stress Behind and founder of alt-kirtan group, Dharma Gypsys: leavingstressbehind.com.

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Spirit Voyage

C

hanting is a spiritual practice, right along with seva (karma yoga), meditation, japa (mantra repetition), contemplation, and swadhyaya (reading sacred texts).

Dave Stringer’s aptly titled live two CD set Joyride enables listeners to delve deeply into this practice. Each of the six tracks range from fifteen to twenty minutes, allowing ample time to familiarize yourself with the melodies before diving into the experience of chanting.

Stinger’s captivating kirtans draw us in with their enticing harmonies. From the soulful “Jay Jay Ram Krishna Hari” to traditional favorites like “Kali Durge” and “Krishna Govinda,” Stringer has managed to put his unique signature on each track.

“Om Namo Bhagavate” is a tribute to Bhagavan Nityananda, the beloved Indian saint. The first ten minutes of the bhajan are fairly mellow as Stringer longingly expresses his devotion; then the intensity heightens as he adds the soulful cry, “Bhagavan!”

There’s the sense of wanting to merge with this great master.

The melodies evoke memories of times when I’ve lived in ashrams in India and the U.S., where an evening of chanting is the favored way to wind down after a full day.

Basking in the afterglow of an ecstatic experience of chanting can take one into deep meditation as the chant reverberates in your being. In the ashram, the musicians are primarily a tabla player and harmonium player who convey the feel of a larger orchestra.

Stringer, however, has ten other musicians here, who play everything from the electric guitar to the harmonica.

The beauty which I’ve experienced at Stringer’s concerts is that the music has the capacity to take me outside of myself into a transcendental state. You get a glimpse into this state with Joyride. davestringer.com ––Reviewed by Madhavi Rathod, an Ayurvedic practitioner and Vedic Astrologer born in India and currently residing in Northern California: vedichealing.com (read her blog at: vedichealing.blogspot.com.)

media reviews : books

Emotional Freedom

By Judith Orloff, MD Three Rivers Press

E

MOTIONAL FREEDOM: Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life is the perfect book to come along at the perfect time. I couldn’t put it down.

We live in a tumultuous, fear-dominated period in history and must become masters at overcoming fear and other negative emotions so they don’t sabotage our power.

With skill and compassion, Dr. Judith Orloff shows us how to become heroes in our own lives by transforming anger, loneliness, and envy and more rather than simply “reacting” when our buttons get pushed.

An Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and intuition expert, Dr. Orloff shares her wealth of personal and professional knowledge to illuminate the field of emotions. She draws on wisdom from traditional medicine but goes light years beyond it by presenting emotions as a path to spiritual, energetic, and intuitive awakening.

Why is this leap so important? The intellect has restricted vision about emotions, but bringing intuition into the feeling realm lets us go deeper within. Dr. Orloff asks us to see every success, every heartbreak, every loss, every gain as vehicles for transformation. She teaches readers to view emotions in a non-ordinary way, rather than simply making you happy or miserable. Everyone will benefit from the insightful instructions that continually guide us and also from the author’s intimate personal journey and wellearned life wisdom. Judith is the kind of doctor we wish we all had.

Part One of the book introduces you to the four components of emotions: their biology, spirituality, energetic power, and psychology. Understanding each component in yourself will lead to inner breakthroughs that aren’t possible without seeing the whole picture. It offers a self-assessment test to evaluate your current level of emotional freedom so you can increase it practicing this book’s principles. Dr. Orloff invites you into her romance with sleep and dreams as revolutionary states of consciousness. She also helps readers determine their “emotion-

al type” including “the intellectual,” and “the empath. “so they can make the most of their own finest qualities. As an empath, Dr. Orloff knows the gigantic challenges of being an “emotional sponge” and teaches other empaths who’ve been labeled “overly sensitive” how to stay grounded in an oftenoverwhelming world.

You’ll enjoy the “emotional vampire survival guide” – specific advice for dealing with emotional drainers. We’ve all met them.

You’re talking to someone, when suddenly you feel anxious, depressed, or tired. She describes the narcissist, the victim, the controller, and other types of vampires. Plus, there are quizzes to help you determine “Are you in a relationship with an emotional vampire?” or if you might be one yourself. Sometimes, we all have the capacity to be draining, but with mindful compassion we can catch ourselves early and make a shift.

Part Two of the book offers a hands-on approach for facing the most prevalent negative emotions and building positive ones.

Each chapter is called a “transformation” in which you learn how to transform a negative emotion into its counterpoint. For instance, fear is transformed with courage, frustration with patience, and jealousy with self-esteem.

You learn to do this in your life by taking a wealth of quizzes, from Dr. Orloff’s patient studies, and her own intimate journey with each emotion.

Emotional Freedom is the rare book that can open your mind and your heart to more empowerment. Give yourself a gift and read it.

––Reviewed by Caroline Myss, PhD author of Anatomy of the Spirit, Sacred Contracts, and other books: myss.com.

See Judith Orloff at Unity of Tustin on March 27, 11:00 A.M. and 1:30 P.M: unitytustin.com.

March 2011

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astrology pages

l.a. ~ heaven to earth

Ast ro l o g y

Photo: Jennifer Esperanza

jyotish forecast: march 2011

by tamiko fischer

The astrological forecast for March is based upon the Panchanga (Vedic calendar), whose five limbs include: 1) day of the week (Vara), 2) day in the lunar cycle (Tithi),

LUNATION and ECLIPSE DAYS: The New Moon Day (Amavasya) begins the lunar month and the Full Moon Day (Poornima) shows the month’s unique qualities.

3) half-day in the lunar cycle (Karana), 4) zodiacal position of the Moon in lunar mansion (Nakshatra) and 5) relationship between the zodiacal positions of the Sun and Moon (Yoga).

Also considered are various sidereal transits and unique Panchanga combinations also called Yogas.

Specific personal influences such as one’s date, place and time of birth are not taken into consideration, and thus the following information should be regarded as a general forecast based on traditional meanings. Times given are Pacific Standard Time before Sunday, March 13 and Pacific Daylight Time after this date.

TUESDAY, MARCH 1 March begins with the Moon in Shravana Nakshatra, a moveable, receptive and uplifting star that favors travel, studying traditional subjects, devotional rituals, healing discussions and committed listening. The thirteenth lunar day occurring on a Tuesday, forms an energizing, accomplishment combination that supports steady work towards clear goals.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 Om Namah Shivaya! Tonight marks Maha Shivaratri, the festival of Lord Shiva the Supreme Yogi who is worshipped through all night meditation and chanting vigils. This night, the Divine favors the ardent spiritual seeker. (Maha Shivaratri occurs on the dark-fort­night of the lunar month of Magha when the Moon is in the waning fourteenth lunar day, form­ing a small crescent-shaped ‘Shiva Moon.’)

SATURDAY, MARCH 5 The Moon, in edgy star Poorva Bhadrapada (sometimes symbolized as a two-faced head looking in opposite directions), may bring the surreal, mind-expanding experience of walking between two worlds. This influence may play-out as spending the day in two radically opposite environments or crossing paths with acquaintances in an unlikely setting.

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Amavasya (New Moon): Thursday, March 3 at 10:25 A.M. until Friday, March 4 at 12:45 P.M. in sidereal Aquarius in otherworldly Shatabishak Nakshatra.

Poornima (Full Moon): Friday, March 18 at 3:06 P.M. until Saturday, March 19 at 11:09 A.M. in sidereal Virgo in leisure loving Uttra Phalguni Nakshatra.

SUNDAY, MARCH 6 The Moon, in steady-natured star Uttra Bhadrapada, may bring working on a long-term, practical project motivated by hope and compassion, such as a community garden, environmental clean-up or tree planting. (The Moon and gracious Jupiter are in very close conjunction while aspected by service-oriented Saturn.)

TUESDAY, MARCH 8 Today’s energizing influences fuel courage and a need for excitement, but this is day to restrain daring driving maneuvers, to pause and read the fine print on rushed business deals and to take a few deep breaths before making ultimatums that might come back to haunt later on.

(Moon in invigorating star Ashwini Nakshatra/obstructive lunar-half day Visti Karana is in effect during most of the daytime.)

FRIDAY, MARCH 11 Today may bring an exercise in balancing friendly enthusiasm with mature discernment, maybe after somebody’s playful attitude gets deemed inappropriate. (Magnetic and mischievous star Rohini Nakshatra occurring on a Friday forms Nasa (Loss) and Mrityu (Death) Yogas.)

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 This is an ideal day to rest and seek healing comforts, such as an Ayurvedic oil massage, a restorative Yoga class, peaceful silence, warm homemade meals or extra sleep. (Harsh star Ardra Nakshatra combined with unsettling ninth lunar day makes this a fitting time for quiet retreat.)

MONDAY, MARCH 14

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23

Projects get new inspiration breathed into them as one’s diverse, hidden talents find outward expression today (The Moon is in versatile star Punarvasu Nakshatra/excellent and externalizing tenth lunar day.)

The Sun enters sidereal Pisces today: major official beginnings are traditionally avoided on days of solar ingress.

The Moon, in gentle and humanitarian star Anuradha Nakshatra combined with the uplifting fifth lunar day is an excellent influence that makes today perhaps the most generally favorable day this week, fitting for group projects, socializing, meetings, travel, and activities characterized by tenderness and swiftness.

TUESDAY, MARCH 15

FRIDAY, MARCH 25 - SUNDAY, MARCH 27

Today may bring a situation where the sharing of wisdom suffers due to the overbearing or complicating role of the messenger. There may be frustrating conversations with truly knowledgeable people or valuable information lost due to problems with complex technology. (Wise Jupiter and communicative Mercury are in exact degree, forming the adverse conjunction ‘planetary war.’ Mercury becomes the ‘conquering’ planet according to most authorities.)

Four planets gather in sidereal Pisces, a conjunction likely to color life through a Piscean lens of ‘two fish swimming in opposite directions.’ Contradictory ambitions and ideals may bring up soul searching questions around one’s cherished highest ideals and pragmatic security, especially regarding work. (Practical work-planet Saturn is in powerful exact aspect to Jupiter in Pisces.)

SATURDAY, MARCH 19

THURSDAY, MARCH 31

Today marks Holi, the major ‘festival of colors’ that celebrates the triumph of good over evil, rebirth and the general let-loose energy of springtime. Before the advent of toxic, colored dyes wildly flung about in this prankish festival (similar to a messy paint-ball war), Holi powders were originally potent healing herbs like turmeric and neem. These timely rituals not only freed one’s spirits, but also were meant to fortify physical immunity during a seasonal juncture. (Holi occurs just after the Full Moon in the lunar month of Phalguna).

SUNDAY, MARCH 20 Happy spring! (Today marks the Vernal Equinox.)

Setting a clear intention for the day may be especially beneficial this morning. The Moon, in visionary, airy and potentially ungrounded star Shatabishak Nakshatra may make for a day of being pulled into a whirlwind of mental concepts or outwardly pulled in too many directions. (Shatabishak Nakshatra on the thirteenth lunar day forms the unfavorable combination Vinasa (Annihilation) Yoga.)

LAYOGA Tamiko Fischer is available for Vedic astrological chart readings and welcomes your comments and queries by phone (505) 310 - 8929 or e-mail: tamiko9@hotmail.com. tamikofischer.com

March 2011

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where to yoga: a directory of

studios, teachers, and classes Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena Yoga at the Village in Northwest Glendale 200 and 500-Hour teacher training programs sanctioned by Yoga Alliance. Work toward your 500 Hour status. Yoga at the Village caters to seniors, adults, kids, teens, computer geeks, the yoga challenged and the skeptical!

We’re confident the above group includes you!

Our principle? If you introduce your mind to your body, they just might like each other.

Classes are a fusion of several styles and geared toward whomever walks in the door. Anyone is welcome to any class no matter what “level” the class is labeled. Our teachers are there to guide you. Yoga at the Village, 1306 Sonora Ave., Glendale, CA 91202. 818-265-9833; info@yogaatthevillage.com Yoga Blend A community studio offering a blend of yoga styles for all levels. With over 75 classes per week, unique workshops and retreats, plus an annual teacher training, there is truly something for everyone. Great teachers, great students, great vibe! 1921 West Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA. 818-954-9642; yogablend.com

Santa Barbara/Ventura/Camarillo Yoga in Carpinteria with Felicia Tomasko, Beth Thomas & Rhonda Peters. Tues & Thurs, 6-7:15pm. Carpinteria Women’s Club, 1059 Vallecito Road, Carpinteria. 805-452-1319; feliciatomasko@aol.com

Santa Monica/Brentwood/Westwood Santa Monica Yoga New Student special: $65 for 30 days of unlimited yoga. For more information: santamonicayoga.com.

Sherman Oaks

20: The Introduction and Study of The Bhagavad Gita with Nancy Goodstein. Sunday, 9am-Noon.

Yoga at the Village, 1306 Sonora, Glendale, CA 91201. 818-265-9833; yogaatthevillage.com

when to yoga:

26: Introduction to Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils Non-toxic support to the nervous, digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems. They are natural antioxidants that can help oxygenate the body, elevate your mood and improve vitality. You will experience the 9 oils we use everyday for physical and emotional healing.

Class is $10 and is from 1:45-4:30pm. Westwood area. RSVP for exact location and to reserve your space. Marilyn Kay: 310-9871051; marilynkayoils@gmail.com.

a calendar of events FEBRUARY 5-April 23: 500 Hour Teacher Training at Yoga at the Village Yoga Alliance Sanctioned 2011. 200-Hour Yoga Teachers’ Training: A Journey to Discovery Expand Your Understanding/Train To Teach Hatha Yoga. (You do not need to be an aspiring yoga teacher to take this course.) Yoga at the Village is honored to once again present a unique Expanded Study and Teacher Training course for enthusiastic practitioners, as well as potential instructors. 300 Hour Master Class begins September 10, 2010. Become an RYT500. Introduce you to Your Inner Master! 300Hour Level (to advance your 200-hour Yoga Alliance level to 500 hours or to simply deepen your practice.)

5: Ayurvedic Medicine: The Science of Life An Introduction and Guide to Health with Guy Gabriel, ERYT. Saturday, 9am-Noon.

Yoga at the Village, 1306 Sonora, Glendale, CA 91201. 818-265-9833; yogaatthevillage.com 6: Kirtan Rabbi Pot Luck. Sunday 6pm. $15 pre pay/$18 door.

Tickets online: urbanyoga.org, kirtanrabbi. com. Kristin Olson's Urban Yoga Center, 458 S. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, CA 92262.

760-320-7702, urbanyoga.com 12: Viniyoga Introspective: An Introduction to the Adaptation of Yoga to Those with Special Needs with Leslie Bogart.

Saturday, 1-4pm. Yoga at the Village, 1306 Sonora, Glendale, CA 91201. 818-265-9833; yogaatthevillage.com

March 2011

19: Spring Equinox Ceremony, Mari Mendoza Potluck Follows. Saturday, 6:30pm. $20. Kristin Olson's Urban Yoga Center, 458 S. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, CA 92262. 760320-7702, urbanyoga.com

Black Dog Yoga Great teachers, teaching great classes! Open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, we are proud to remain a friendly, locally-owned studio where you will find the owner teaching classes too!

4454 Van Nuys Bl, Sherman Oaks 91403. 818380-0331. blackdogyoga.com Winter 2011 Teacher Training starts January 28. Open house December 3, 2011.

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13: Deepening Students' Yoga Experience through class themes with Shari Goodhartz, ERYT-500. Sunday, 10am-1pm. Yoga at the Village, 1306 Sonora, Glendale, CA 91201. 818-265-9833; yogaatthevillage.com

20: Inversions with Inversion Prep Practical Ways To Practice and Teach Inversions with Scott Hobbs. Sunday, 1-4pm. Yoga at the Village, 1306 Sonora, Glendale, CA 91201.

818-265-9833; yogaatthevillage.com

27: Ashtanga Yoga Introspective with Nancy Goodstein. Sunday, 1-4pm. Yoga at the Village, 1306 Sonora, Glendale, CA 91201.

818-265-9833; yogaatthevillage.com

APRIL 3: Debbie Steingesser 'Afro Dance Vinyasa Yoga' Teens Encouraged. Sun. 1:30 - 3:30. $10/Adults $15. Kristin Olson's Urban Yoga Center, 458 S. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, CA 92262. 760-320-7702, urbanyoga.com 15-17: Bhakti Fest Spring OMmersion JTRC Kristin Olson's Urban Yoga Center, 458 S. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, CA 92262.

760-320-7702, urbanyoga.com

MAY 25-June 3: Costa Rica 9 day Flower of Life Workshop and Jungle Adventure Learn the powerful and transformative Mer-Ka-Ba Meditation during the Flower of Life workshop in the supportive environment of the Central American rainforest. Mother Nature herself will be the ultimate teacher: Indigenous wisdom, canopy tours, elemental energies and the animals will assist us in knowing the One Law that runs through all things. Contact cert. facilitator Phil Laing at: p_laing@yahoo.com, 530-386-3983; formlessandtrue.com.

classifieds: products & services to support the practice

Healing Arts Reconnective Healing and The Reconnection By suggested donation $35/hour with healer practitioner and life coach Veronica Klimenko. Include reconnective frequencies in your life and experience.

Consciousness shift in your life for health, spiritual development, relationship and finance. Testimonials available upon request. 323-810-8108 Affordable Feng Shui Consultation Certified Chinese consultant Master Wai Lam. Residential walk-through package entails: room/occupants/personal objective compatibility evaluation; house type/health/wealth/furniture/de-cluttering analysis. 310-854-8952; peterwailamfengshui.pcjourneyworks.com

Nutritional Counseling/Medical Intuitive Robin Lee has had the gift of intuitive insight since she was a child. In her family this gift has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. This coupled with an extensive knowledge of health, healing, and nutrition allows Robin to find a dietary and nutritional program designed specifically for you and your body’s current needs.

Robin believes the body, mind, and spirit are intimately connected. She taps into a person’s energetic field and scans each organ for both physical as well as energetic imbalances. She obtains information on exactly what types of support the body is ready for at this time and what is most appropri-

ate as far as diet, supplements, and healing modalities are concerned. Her individualized “program” is far more effective than one based on intellectual knowledge alone. Robin does not need to be in a person’s physical presence to access information.

To schedule a consultation please contact: 760494-0058; robin@robinlee.org

Products Yoga Mat Made Where all bags are made out of yoga mats. Why make bags out of a yoga mat? Because a yoga mat understands what you need. A yoga mat will forgive and forget as you bend every which way. By nature the yoga mat is flexible, durable, cushions, protects, welcomes your touch, is friendly, frank, forgiving and bends with what is. This bag understands what you need – one less thing to take care of. Bag up your cares and belongings with yoga ease as stains roll off, bumps bounce back, you breathe easy. Because we believe life is a work of Art all our bags have a touch of paint or giclee’ artwork by Kasha Ritter in their design. For this is where art and yoga willingly collide. 502-609-9699.

Retreats Costa Rica Rainforest Retreat Enjoy Yoga & meditation classes, yoga philosophy group discussions and exciting explorations during this dynamic retreat. Stay in an Eco-cabin, in the tropical rain forest on a macadamia ranch.

Located near some of the most active and beautiful volcanoes in the world. Beginner - Intermediate with three styles of teaching. Join Sharla Holladay, Mar y Sol Barquero and Jenn Johnson for this life changing event. Empower your life with a

free private session and learn to detox your life from negativity. Leave the navigation of Costa Rica to us! All inclusive (except airfare to SJO or LIR) starts at $1,295. YogaYouCabot.com, 877964-2968. Register now!

Yoga Family Vacations Hawaii Yoga & Eco-Adventures. A Family Retreat in Hawaii. July 10-15, 2011 This week long adventure is a wonderful opportunity to build positive family bonds, designed to nurture the parent and inspire your keiki (children ages 5 and up) to connect to nature through hands on adventure and fun! Daily yoga practices designed specifically for parents are scheduled conveniently at the same time as our kids nature explorations. Together families will explore the unique and spectacular wonders of Hawai’i’s Big Island. (Single parent families are very welcome.) yogafamilyecoadventures.com, kalani.com

Teacher Training Pure Yoga Teacher Training at Equinox Renowned in Asia and voted “Best Yoga” by New York Magazine in 2009 and 2010, Pure Yoga is the premier international yoga brand. In 2010, Pure Yoga launched its signature Teacher Training program at Equinox. In 2011, the program has expanded to 15 locations across the country all taking place in Equinox’s thoughtfully-designed yoga studios. Led by esteemed Pure Yoga and Equinox faculty and guest presenters, Pure Yoga Teacher Training offers a great way to deepen your yoga practice and learn to share yoga as a teacher or a more enlightened practitioner. To find a training near you, register or learn more visit equinox.com/teachertraining.

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turman is a photographer and artist who has been expressively documenting the Southern California Yoga community. In these efforts, he has worked extensively with yogis who are gifted in the expres-

sion of the beauty of asana.

This photo of Robert Sturman was taken on Christmas Day, in East Los Angeles, by Erin Kirk (who is featured in Sturman’s soon-to-be-released coffee table book, Impressions of Yoga: The Radiant Spirits.)

Erin Kirk turned the tables on Sturman and persuaded him to be in front of the camera. As he comments on the experience of being the model in this photo, “I had never seen a picture of myself doing Yoga and always assumed I was kind of a clumsy Yoga guy far from worthy of being photographed. I realized after seeing the photo that just working with so many amazing yogis in the community made me work harder.

The truth is that the artist is often making art of that which he or she is aspiring to become.”

Sturman says of his practice, “It helps me cultivate the stability and courage I need to go out and do what I must do as an artist of our world.”

Tell us what your practice means to you. Write us at: edit@layogamagazine.com.

From Words of Wisdom, published by Koa Books, 2008. koabooks.com; lamasuryadas.com

Dan cing S h i va p ai n ti n g b y M e g a n n e F o rb e s : m e g a n n e fo rb e s . c o m

Dhumavati Yantra:

i

Potential painting and text by sarah tomlinson

mantra, transliteration and pronunciation by dr. john casey

It can seem relatively easy to connect with feminine forms that are beautiful or sensuous. Yet the pregnant possibility of the creative power of the goddess emerges from the dissolution, desolation and destruction of the elder crone, the grandmother who is the nadir or midnight of the cosmic cycle. This is Dhumavati. Her gaunt, unfeminine, widowed, skeletal countenance is initially shocking. Dhumavati is Shakti without the Shiva, the feminine aspect without the masculine drive, the potential latent energy without the direction. She is often depicted in an unmounted chariot, going nowhere. In this inert form she signifies the void, that place where all and at the same time no-thing exists. She is the reminder that life is cyclical; that we constantly experience change and renewal.

This cycle is far from simple, as Dhumavati is the cloudy smoke; she is the unknown, the void that allows change to occur and cre-

ates the potential for manifestation. This intensity is the dark night of the soul. If we can see the smoke for what it is, we can push through it and experience the potential that lies beyond. The void of Dhumavati can also be a refuge. She provides the opportunity for us to sit with the confusion and dares us to trust so we can reassess what is important in our lives and peel away that which is unnecessary to unmask the deeper truths. When the outer falls short of our hopes and promises we are directed inward to spend time in our inner world. Here, in the depths of a quiet mind, we can recognize our dreams.

If you find yourself attracted to this Yantra you may need to step back from your current projects and regroup. Cultivating adoration of Dhumavati is an opportunity arises to see beneath the surface, the sacred thread of oneness weaving its way through all things. In Yoga this is the non-dual path.

The vivid colors seen in most Yantras are

replaced here by a sheen of dull grey inducing an inward pull. The play of etheric purples and yellow ochres creates a connection to the akasha, the deep space. Dhumavati’s smoky presence can propel you to spiritual renewal, moving forward in new and innovative ways to realize your full potential.

LAYOGA

Sarah Tomlinson is the author of Nine Designs for Inner Peace (Destiny Books, 2008) and a student of the late, great Harish Johari. She teaches Yantra Painting and Yoga worldwide.

Visit: yantratecture.com.

John Casey is a teacher, educator, astrological consultant, yogin, and meditator. Dr. Casey regularly teaches Sanskrit and courses in the texts and philosophy of the Yoga and Buddhist traditions at the Loyola Marymount Unveristy Extenstion in the Yoga Philosophy Certification Program. Call (310) 338 - 2358 or visit: extension.lmu.edu.

mantra for

Dhümavaté Repeating this sound (either externally or internally) while gazing on the visual Yantra produces a sensuous inner knowing of the Divine.

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March 2011

dhüà pronunciation guide:

dhooà

oà dhüà dhüà dhümavaté svähä pronunciation guide:

oà dhooà dhooà dhoo-ma-va-tee svah-hah (‘à’ = like ‘n’ in the French word “bon” ‘a’ = like ‘e’ in “the”)

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